Blackout
by Brazzlegirl
Summary: When a sudden snowstorm leaves the RED and BLU teams stranded at Coldfront with no power and only a few rations left, it'll take working together to survive. But things will not be going as smoothly as they hope... Rated T for TF2
1. The RED Victorious

**Hello, TF2 fandom! I'm new at and at writing fanfictions, so this is my first shot! I hope everyone enjoys it**

**~Brazzle**

**TF2 (c) Valve**

The snowflakes danced through the air lightly, caressed on the wind. Their natural path was to fall from the sky and to the ground, and they would've, had they not been interrupted by the person sprinting past.

"WOOHOO! I am ON FIRE!" The gleeful cry of the RED Scout echoed loudly across Coldfront over the gunfire. His jacket dangled from his waste as he sped closer and closer to the BLU base. It was a good day for the REDs. An entire morning of absolutely creaming the BLU team. Scout, naturally attributed most of this to himself. It seemed to him that he was doing all the work.

He pressed onward into the side hallway of BLU base, cracking his bat over the head of the unsuspecting Engineer who was busy setting up a sentry.

"Hardhat won't do nothin' for ya now, will it?" He said with a smirk as the BLU Engineer crumpled to the floor. Inside the base he heard the whirring of Heavy's Minigun and Medic's frantic yelling as they shot down more and more BLUs. Scout grinned even wider, then swung his bat over his shoulder and joined the two on the point.

"_Time has been added,_" The Administrator's voice blared in from everywhere at once. Scout adjusted the hat on his head.

"See you two slowpokes at the final point!" He said with an arrogant note in his voice to Medic and Heavy. They simply shrugged him off-after all, Scout did tend to get a bit hyped up in battle. That and they didn't have time to respond before he was off again.

The last control point was just outside of BLU spawn-always the hardest to get, but that wouldn't stop Scout. Nothing could, he'd tell himself. He'd set aside his bat and now clutched the Scattergun close to his chest. With a deep breath he whirled around and bolted towards the control point. The BLUs, having been caught off guard, started shouting things and shooting at him. Scout grinned even wider than before-which was in fact so wide it looked ridiculous-and shot down the BLU Medic with the small gun.

"Did you just _see _that?" Scout called out to Heavy and Medic who were standing near the doorway and picking off BLUs that came out of respawn.

"Ja, Scout, quite impressive!" Medic shouted distractedly to Scout. He really hadn't seen whatever it was that Scout did, he was just humoring the boy. Scout beamed, then, seeing that the control point was free, scurried onto it. The holographic BLU sign flickered above it sporadically-a sign that would soon be RED. He was joined by Soldier moments later, who'd taken care of the BLUs who'd managed to get past Heavy and Medic's line of defense and were trying to recapture the previous point.

"This is just TOO easy," Scout exclaimed. "C'mon, surely you BLUs could put up SOME of a fight!"

"I believe we can," Came Soldier's reply. Scout whirled around quickly in a panic, clutching his baseball bat in two hands at the sound of the voice. It wasn't Soldier's. In a sudden series of events that left him no time to react, the BLU Spy had collapsed on the ground and was bleeding from a wound in his head. Scout glanced up with rather wide eyes to see Sniper waving at him from the other room. He collected himself, and then nodded towards the bushman, acting as if he had everything under control. He moved back onto the point and crouched down as the BLUs began firing at him, Heavy, and Medic.

"C'mon…c'mon…c'mon," He muttered to himself, flinching away from stray bullets flying at him. Finally, the voice of The Admin rang out loudly through the cement walls of the base.

"_Victory!_"

* * *

"No, no, the best part was when Engie was runnin' around an' carryin' his sentry, screamin' for help like a wee lass from that BLU Pyro chasin' after him," Laughter erupted around the kitchen as the mercs were recounting the battle from earlier. Engineer glanced at the ground and felt his face flush red.

"He ambushed me! What'd you expect me to do, not run away? By golly if he hadn't caught me while I was movin' that sentry I would've blown that mask right off his face!" He responded indignantly. Demo simply smiled with a small hiccup in response. Scout was over in the corner, telling his tale to Pyro and Heavy who were listening with rapt attention, and Medic who was rolling his eyes at Scout's exaggerating.

"So there I was, there I was right? On the point, with Solly, and suddenly I hear this sneering French accent behind me. So what do I do? I whip around and try ta bash his head in. An' I had everything COMPLETELY under control, yeah, but then Snipes decided to show me up and took'm out instead. I had everything under control, even had the point and everything!" Scout explained, his Bostonian accent growing thicker the more he inflated his ego.

"Sure you 'ad everything under control, Mate," Sniper, who'd been listening in on the conversation, scoffed from behind Scout whilst tipping his hat over his eyes. Scout shot a glare at him.

"At least I captured any points. All you do is hide around and shoot people in the head! Don't even look'm in the eye when ya do it either! An' I did have it completely under control. Totally knew that the Soldier was in fact a Spy," He subconsciously cast a sidelong glance at Spy, who was sitting in the corner of the room and trying to light a cigarette, being generally antisocial. Which is what he usually does.

"At least I 'ave the common sense to not charge at bullets flying towards my face!" Sniper shot back, standing up to his full height. Scout stood up straighter too, but was at least a foot shorter than the bushman.

"Hey, I have the courage to stand up to that! Unlike you, hidin' behind the doorway," Scout shouted, voice rising in pitch. The two stood for a moment, glaring at each other, daring the other to make the first move.

"Scout…" Medic started, moving to stand between the two mercs. "Ze veekend is here. Ve don't need to vorry about fighting anymore," He glanced at Sniper and Scout seriously for a moment, adjusting his glasses. The two grumbled quietly but went back to their seats. Medic was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Heavy and Pyro had moved away from the growing conflict, tossing their dinner dishes in the nearby sink rather loudly which changed the topic.

"Shoot…" Engie started. "Someone's going to have to wash those,"

The entire room fell deadly silent as all nine of them exchanged glances. Medic was the first to break the silence.

"Mmm, I have a _lot _of papervork I should be doing right…now," He stood up quickly, leaving the table and scurrying down the next hall to his lab. The double doors swung shut loudly behind him. The remaining mercenaries all erupted into excuses at once.

"Mmmph mmph!"

"Sasha is smudged. She need polishing,"

"Wow, I have got to go an' straighten out my…baseball card collection. Yeah. Very pressin' matter,"

"Cleaning dishes is for ladies!"

It continued on like this until only Engie remained. Spy hadn't said a word, only used his fancy cloaking watch to slip out undetected. He sighed, collecting the remaining dishes off the wooden table.

"Well, fellas. Looks like it's just you an' me,"

* * *

"Would you remind me again, _why _we are staying here for the weekend?" The irritated Frenchman's voice echoed throughout the room. BLU Spy had one hand on his head and was pacing around in an annoyed manner. The BLU Scout watched him and had the same air of irritation.

"The plane we sent to get you _crashed _in the blizzard!" The Admin's voice was crackly and was almost indiscernible due to the bad connection. "You'll have to stay at Coldfront until we can get a plane down there, so you best hope you brought something warmer than that suit. As for the REDs, well, do what you may. Kill each other if you wish," The conversation ended as quickly as it began, leaving Spy no time to react to what she said. It had been a particularly irritating day for BLU team, and this didn't help.

"Are you FREAKIN' kiddin' me?!" Scout shouted at the now black monitor. "I had PLANS for the weekend! Big plans! Now I gotta spend it here and freeze my butt off?" He sighed then collapsed back in the chair. He and Spy had been the only ones there to get the message at the time. The others were off doing whatever. Demo was probably off somewhere drinking and going was to use the weekend as time to recover from the hangover. Sniper was most likely in his room rather than his van. He didn't like it, in fact he hated it, but they couldn't even haul his van out here anyways. And they all were expecting to board a plane the next day.

Spy hadn't stopped pacing. He was picking at the fabric of his gloves as he walked back and forth. They would have to get the message out to their teammates. Sighing, he stopped pacing and stood with his back to Scout

"Well. What The Administrator says goes. Let's go tell the team we aren't leaving for a while,"


	2. Powerless

**Well, I decided to post Chapter 2 now that I feel more confident with it. I was toying around with some feels-y stuff and some action scenes, and consider it to be one of my better chapters [out of three; the third's already been written, I'm just panning it out] This one is also significantly longer since I got really into writing it **

**Still completely making stuff up as I go, so, enjoy chapter 2!**

**Edit: Realized I'd forgotten to put in the page breaks-again, but it looks like they aren't working well...so I just put a horizontal line between them. Pardon my noobiness...**

"No no no no no I can't stay here, man! I was lookin' forward to enjoyin' the weekend! It only comes once a week, ya know, and now we're all stuck on this freakin' glacier!" RED Scout's voice could be heard clear down to Medic's lab as the angry Bostonian ranted on.

"Fer cryin' out loud, lad, calm down!" Demo was standing in front of Scout and shouting as well, dragging others in on the scuffle.

"Nuh-uh, I ain't stayin' here! I'm gonna get back to civilization if I gotta fight my way through that snowstorm myself!"

"MMPH."

Medic grinned quietly to himself as the firm muffling of Pyro silenced the two mercs. He had been listening in on them-not on purpose, though. They could've been heard clear to BLU base.

Roughly a half hour ago Medic had received a message from The Administrator. They were stranded up at Coldfront until the blizzard subsided a bit. Until then, they'd have to weather it out in the base for the next few days. Medic didn't mind too much-but he knew Scout certainly did.

He flicked the small little stereo in the corner of his desk on and turned up the classical music CD that'd been left in there to drown out the fighting of his teammates. A little reminder to them that they were _not _to disturb him.

* * *

Eventually the team reached an impasse, and stopped their bickering momentarily. Pyro and Engie were sitting in the main room by the light of a dim lamp, Engie plucking at his guitar and the Pyro looking at his music, mystified. Occasionally, the two would start singing. Pyro's humming was more of an accompaniment than anything, however.

Most of the others retreated back to their rooms. The faint sounds of a failing TV signal came from Scout's room, followed by a very long string of curses and the sound of hitting his baseball bat against it. It was only to be expected, though. With this kind of weather, there was not a chance he'd be able to find any kind of signal.

The rest had most likely gone off to bed. It was very, _very _late, and usually only Medic was found awake at this time. This was due to the fact that he'd been plagued by insomnia for the last couple of years. He'd stay up for nights on end, working on who knows what. None of the team did. They honestly believed it was nothing at all. Sometimes it was something, most of the time it was a desperate attempt at keeping himself busy somehow.

Right now he was scrawling things down on a piece of paper. His eyelids were heavy and he had no idea what he was writing. It was a cross between German and English and it was becoming almost completely indiscernible. It was just something to keep his hands busy until the sun rose. Or in this case, until it got somewhat light out. The sun rarely shone in Coldfront. It was always snowing, or blowing, or a combination of the two and sometimes hail. He checked his watch. It was only 3:30 am.

He sighed, tipping back in the chair at his desk. A few papers dove off the desk in an anticlimactic manner. Seeing as how there was nothing else going on, he picked them up, shuffled them neatly, then froze. These weren't just the ravings of his mind late at night. These were old, ancient letters. Letters that would never make it to their receiver.

_Dear Anna,_

_I still think about you. Every day. I worry about your safety. It would be nice to hear from you more often just for that reassurance. Though I know you'll be safe. I'll always keep you safe no matter what._

_Don't worry about me. I'm doing fine here. They're treating me-well, not exactly fine, but okay enough. I'll survive-for you_

It was a rather small note and had ended abruptly, written in the language of a man in his late 20's. He never finished writing it. With a slight pang of sadness Medic realized this was the letter he'd been writing to Anna when he'd found out she had died. He could never bring himself to finish it. Maybe…just maybe he could. After all, no one was around, and he had a lot of time on his hands until morning.

Medic sighed, pulling the small picture frame closer under the light of the lamp then grabbed the slightly dull pencil and smoothed out the faded, worn paper.

* * *

"Remind me again, why are we up at this ungodly hour?" BLU Demo's words slurred together as he and the rest of the team stood outside, shivering. It was nearly 5 in the morning.

"Did you not hear The Administrator? She did not call a ceasfire. That means, we still fight the REDs. And I say we take this opportunity to crush them now rather than have a repeat of yesterday," Spy snapped back at Demo. Oh, he was irritated. The day before was absolutely humiliating-especially when he'd been taken out so easily by the bushman. He and Scout had stayed up devising a plan for revenge. Scout had most unwillingly agreed, but he shared the same feelings as Spy. The rest of the team was silent as they trekked quietly towards RED base-but Spy knew they did as well.

RED Medic heard something. Something moving outside. With a start he sat up in his chair, realizing he'd fallen asleep at his desk. The little lamp had flicked off. He blindly felt around for his glasses then slipped them on-upside down at first, then fixed them. Who would be out there at this time? He guessed it would be Soldier-he was always getting up insanely early and usually waking the rest of the team with him. Still, Medic couldn't shake his curiosity, and poked his head out of the doors to his lab.

The first thing he registered was a rocket flying right at his face. He pulled back into the lab quickly, now fully awake. He now heard yelling down the hallway and a few more pairs of footsteps. There wasn't much he could do-he wasn't armed to hold off a whole hoard of BLUs who'd stormed in and ambushed them. He realized with a flare of anger that they must've received the same message as the REDs did-to kill the other team if they wished. And it looked like they'd taken The Admin up on that.

He hurriedly bolted to the other side of the lab, but soon remembered with a chill that there wasn't a back way in the lab at Coldfront. He was completely and utterly trapped. The figure of the BLU soldier appeared in the double doorway-grinning insanely. Medic was seized with a feeling of dread and could only do one thing to alert his teammates-

"HELPPP!"

Suddenly the soldier stopped moving in the doorway. He was standing up, a grimace tightened across his rapidly paling face. A single drop of crimson blood splattered to the floor as Spy pulled the butterfly knife out of the BLU's back and let him collapse to the floor. He wiped the blood off on a cloth as Medic hurried over to him.

"BLUs…attacking ze base…" He explained to Spy, breathing quickly.

"Oui. I think I know that now," Spy responded before cloaking again and heading out to find more of the BLUs. Medic ran to the opposite side of the room and threw on his coat, grabbing the syringe gun and medigun. He had a feeling they would need them as he rushed down the hallway to Engie's room, knocking on the door loudly.

"Herr Engineer! Zhe BLUs are attacking us!" He shouted through the door. He heard the sound of someone jumping up and hitting the wall, followed by a loud stream of cussing and the clicking of a shotgun. He didn't stay for Engie to get out of the room, but went down the hallway to wake up everyone else.

* * *

In the meantime Spy had disguised as their Scout and found where the BLUs were coming in from-the left end. The entire team was there, all geared up as though it were a regular day. Their Heavy and Medic were coming in from the right, lust for battle in their eyes. The sun was just now glowing through the torrential blizzard as Spy flipped his butterfly knife in his hand and followed after them slowly.

"Spy creepin' around here!" He heard the BLU Engineer shout suddenly. All eyes turned and scanned the area. Spy played along, knowing well that you had to act like the enemy in order to become them. But it was to no avail. The BLU Scout had found him and wildly started shooting.

"That s'posed to be some cheap imitation of me?" Came his sneering voice. Spy remained cool and collected under the circumstances.

"If it is, you're not doin' a very good job of it!" He shouted back in his best Bostonian accent. The team exchanged glances. Spy was inwardly smirking at their confusion.

* * *

Sniper had jumped out of bed when he heard gunfire, half expecting his head to hit the ceiling like it did in his van. When it didn't, he frowned, slipping his hat on over his head and clutching the Sniper rifle in hand. The only thing he knew about what was going on was that they were being fired at-and he was going to fire back. It was only first instinct.

But they were being attacked from inside the base, he noted. The BLUs had stormed in unexpectedly. There were no sniper nests he could get to, and with the dim lighting of the base, he wouldn't be able to get a clear shot on anyone. But that didn't stop him.

He whirled around a corner wielding the Kukri dangerously and collided suddenly with something that wasn't there. There was a surprised yelp as he lashed out with the blade and the BLU Spy shimmered into sight, a look of malice in his eyes, clutching at the new wound in his arm. Sniper glared back with the same venom, pinning spy against the wall violently and holding the Kukri up against his throat.

"Thought you could sneak up on us while we were sleeping, did'ja Spookie?" He sneered, pressing the cold metal against Spy's neck harder and drawing a drop of blood. "Didn't think you could get away with it, now could'ya? Got'ya yesterday, and I'll getcha a thousand times again," Sniper pressed closer to the BLU Spy who'd remained silent, but retained the same fire in his icy blue eyes.

Sniper chose that moment to ease up on his grip and Spy seized the moment, thrusting forward suddenly, butterfly knife in hand. Sniper staggered backwards, hands flying for the gash in his side. The knife had narrowly missed going clean through him. He glanced back up at the spook, wide eyed and angrier than before.

"You got blood on my suit," Spy hissed, leaning closer to Sniper. He was playing with fire now. The Australian pulled his hands away from the wound and flat-out tackled the BLU Spy to the ground, sending the Kukri and butterfly knife skidding on the cold cement floor in front of them.

They both sat, Sniper on top of Spy, staring at each other and breathing heavily. Sniper's rage showed more on his face than the cool, collected expression of the spook.

"You know…I bet your father's _so_ proud of you. You know, what with you being a 'man of medicine'," Spy started, his voice calm and jeering. A smile crept to the edges of his face as a trickle of blood ran down it. "Oh yeah, that's right, you aren't one. Ooh, if they ever found out what you really do, tsk tsk, what would they think?" He continued, toying with the bushman's fiery temper. And it worked. Sniper balled his hand into a fist and sent it flying for the spook's face.

"Don't ya _ever _say anything about my mum and dad _again_," Sniper shouted, his voice rising in pitch. Spy took the blow to his face, then with cat-like reflexes, flipped on top of Sniper and pinned him to the ground, pulling out the revolver.

"Mommy's boy," He taunted, wiping the blood from his nose on the back of his hand.

* * *

RED Engie had flown out of bed and down the hallway. The BLU's were swarming from everywhere like mad, and he was _not _prepared for a battle. He rapidly slipped on his goggles and hat while running, carrying an arm load of tools to the "garage" where he'd left the sentries that hadn't been destroyed. It was very dark, and he tripped over various tool boxes, stumbling for the light switch

_Click_. There was nothing. _Click click click click click_. Engie tried all the light switches repeatedly but none of them worked. The light bulbs had all been changed recently. With a growing feeling of worry welling up inside of him he ran back down the hallway to its light switch. _Click_. Still nothing. The fact hit him as if Scout's baseball had beaned him in the head. The power had been knocked out in the middle of the night. No power, no respawn.

With a newfound panic and adrenalin he ran as fast as his legs would take him to where his teammates could be heard, shouting. Bullets flew through the air and there were screams of pain for Medic on either side. He'd been running so quickly that he smacked into the Pyro who was coming around a corner and fell flat on his back.

"Pyro! Am I ever glad to see you!" He said, pushing himself off the ground again. "I need your flare gun. Now," His breathing was coming out in ragged gasps. The Pyro made a questioning sound as it held its gun in one hand, partly outstretched towards Engie.

"I'll explain later, I'll explain later!" He said, deciphering the firebug's muffled language. He snatched the gun out of its hands and fired one over the heads of the frenzied mercs. It exploded against the wall loudly and echoed down the hallways.

"EVERYBODY, STOP." The force of Engie's voice meant he was absolutely serious, and it somehow got everyone to stop dead still, staring with wide eyes. He cleared his throat loudly.

"I have news for ev'ryone, concerning REDs and BLUs," He started. "The power's been completely knocked out. Not just fer us, but fer ev'ryone. An' you know very much well what no power means-_no respawn_," he emphasized the ending of the sentence as it sank in. The mercs slowly began to back away from each other, REDs further into the base, BLUs further out. Experimentally, a few tried the lights. None worked. Each team member cast a worried glance at each other. Minutes felt like hours in the silence that no one knew how to break.

Finally, though, it was broken-but it wasn't what they were expecting. From far down the hallway, the resounding _BANG _of a revolver was heard, followed by a blood-curdling scream that caused everyone to catch their breath.

It was Sniper.


	3. Stolen Secrets

**And let us hear it for filler chapter number one! I had somewhat of a hard time with it towards the middle, and I promise the next chapter won't end so abruptly. Well, let me know if you like it; because I'm not sure if I do. Regardless it's still a fairly important chapter, so here it is!**

An uneven crunching sound split the blowing of wind that howled through the air. On the ground there were footsteps and a small trail of blood behind them. Not too far off, someone was breathing heavily, seeking for some kind of shelter from the storm.

RED Spy limped heavily, closer towards BLU base, still disguised as the BLU Scout. Back at the battlefield, the BLUs had found out he was in fact the Spy, and relentlessly started to attack him. There was a gash in the side of his cheek and he was certain he'd sprained-if not broken his ankle. Luckily for him though, there was still his cloaking watch, and he was able to use it to get away.

He couldn't get back into RED base though. The BLUs were all swarming the entrances and there was nowhere he could easily slip by undetected. He couldn't be seen by the naked eye, but that didn't mean they couldn't bump into him. Right now, BLU base was the safest place to take shelter-so he thought.

The inside wasn't much better-but at least it was out of the torrential wind. He shivered, leaning against the wall just by the door to examine his ankle. It was definitely broken, yet he could hardly feel any pain. By no means was he an expert on medicine, so he simply left it, and went to explore further into BLU base.

It was nearly pitch black in all the rooms, making him feel somewhat safer. His cloaking watch hadn't fully recharged and he much preferred sneaking around under the cover of something. The only sound was wind hissing between cracks and snow sliding off the roof tops outside.

Spy crept further into the base, hauntingly lit by a few glowing lights that didn't require electricity. He was in the main control point room now, and there was something that caught his attention. At the far end of the room, there was a small door that was locked. It was hidden in the corner and barely noticeable, but he'd leaned up against its cold doorknob.

There was a simple trick with picking locks. He didn't actually need sufficient light to do it, he couldn't see inside the lock anyways. From his pocket he pulled out a small metal wire-type thing. It was handy to keep around in situations like this. Quietly he fiddled around with it until it found its place in the lock and there was a satisfying _click_ as the door creaked open-as if it hadn't been opened much.

Inside there was a table and a few chairs crammed in the corner, illuminated in a faint blue glow under the skylight. Papers were scattered all over the table. What caught Spy's eye, though, was the large blue briefcase in the center of the table. He couldn't help but wonder what it was doing there, what purpose could it possibly have? This was Coldfront-they weren't doing Capture the Flag. Gingerly he lifted it from its spot in the table, a few papers that it'd been sitting on peeling off and falling back to the ground.

It was unlocked. What kind of briefcase would they leave in a secret _locked _room but leave it unlocked and most of its contents scattered on the table? He couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. Gathering up the papers, he neatly stacked them and laid them in the briefcase, something on them catching his eye. It looked like these were papers _stolen _from The Administrator herself.

Spy's concentration had been broken when he heard footsteps rapidly drawing closer. The BLUs had returned. Quickly and quietly he checked his cloaking watch to see if it was charged, activated it, and hurriedly slunk back towards the exit.

This was too big of a discovery to let slip away.

* * *

"He's dead. He's really dead fer good," Engie muttered to himself as the lifeless body was lowered into the frozen ground. Pyro stood close to Engie, watching with what he could assume were wide eyes. They'd never had to do anything like this at Mann Co before. Death was a regular part of their lives, and yet it never was.

They didn't have an actual coffin-just one of the spare body bags that Medic kept in his lab. It would suffice for now, though. Better than simply burying the fallen merc in the frozen tundra.

They filled the hole with mostly snow, using Soldier's shovel they'd borrowed. It had taken a bit of persuading, perhaps because, while Soldier had respect for his teammates, there was little of it for his enemies.

"Man, when those BLUs find out, they'll be fu-ri-OUS," Scout said, kicking at a loose chunk of snow and holding his arms close to his chest against the wind.

"It wasn't Spy's fault-we didn't know respawn was out 'till I told'm. And by then, it was too late," Engie shivered, and Pyro moved closer. There was a moment of silence before he turned.

"Well. Better go back and check up and see how the Doc is doing," He quietly crunched back inside, followed quickly by Pyro, and lastly by Scout, who turned back to look at where the hole just was, then hurried inside.

When they returned inside, the rest of the team was standing outside the door of Medic's lab, which he had forbidden them to enter until he was finished. They were wrapped tightly in scarves, coats and hats. Now that the power was out, the temperatures decreased rapidly. Their breath came out in puffs as they stood by and waited with worry, a few of them clutching flashlights to lighten the dark hallway.

Suddenly they heard very cross bickering inside the lab. The Australian's loud words were impossible to make out, but he was ticked at something. They heard someone stomping and a long string of German curse words-or what they assumed were curse words. It was safe to say they were. The doors to the lab flew open and Medic stood there, looking particularly exhausted and irritated, Sniper behind him on the bed with three doves perched on him in various places and a scowl set on his face.

"There's no way that I'm waitin' weeks ta use this arm again," Sniper turned to snap, seemingly not noticing the open doors. He had a slightly stained cast wrapped around his left arm and a sling over his shoulder-where he'd been shot twice by the spook's revolver.

"Vell do you vant your arm to heal properly?!" Medic retorted, turning his back on the team, who was simply standing in the doorway and watching the scuffle. It was very clear that Sniper would be all right-that is, if he left his arm alone.

"What if those bloody BLUs decide to attack us again, mate? 'ow will I fight'm like this?" He persisted, making to leave the bed.

"Nein, you vill have to stay here for zhe night," Medic said, pushing him back down onto the bed.

"Wha-why do I 'ave to do that? I told you _I'm fine_," Sniper pushed back against Medic, but knew he wouldn't be able to best him. Medic rolled his eyes.

"I'll vant to keep an eye on it. Make sure it's _really _fine," It was then that the rest of the team couldn't take it any longer. They all swarmed inside and pulled Sniper onto his feet, disregarding Medic's shouting at them. The three doves scattered. Sniper yelped in surprise as his team slapped him on the back, playfully punched him in the right arm, and Pyro who embraced him in a lung-crushing hug.

"I am glad leetle man is okay. Whole team is glad," Heavy told Sniper, who simply nodded at the Russian-still wrapped in Pyro's death hug.

"We were all worried for'ya, sport. You didn't seem to be doin' too well for a while, but the Doc fixed'ya up just fine," Engie commented, smiling.

"Th…thanks…" Sniper uttered breathlessly, pushing away from Pyro with his one good arm.

"Mmph mmmph!" Pyro said enthusiastically, releasing Sniper and letting him stagger backwards into the table.

"Ooh, thanks for that mate," He said, reaching for his hat which had been placed on the counter next to the bed. He shivered slightly and then sat back down on it, seeming to accept his fate that he would have to stay here for the night.

"Wait…" Engie started, counting all the mercs in the room. There were eight-Medic, Sniper, Heavy, Pyro, Scout, Demo, Soldier, and him. "Anybody seen Spookie 'round since the little scuffle earlier?" He asked, a note of concern in his voice. He wasn't _too _worried about Spy, the Frenchman was usually good at getting himself out of situations, but he'd been gone for a while now.

"I saw him vhen zhe BLUs first arrived. He vas zhe one who stabbed zhe BLU Soldier," Medic piped up from the back of the room, where he'd retreated when his teammates had stormed in. There was no hint of satisfaction in his voice when he mentioned the BLU Soldier-for they all knew very well he would never come back. Whether or not Spy did, however, was unknown.

The team exchanged worried glances when there was a sound down the hallway. A heavy breathing and an uneven walk. Spy appeared in the doorway of Medic's lab, banged up from the weather and walking on a now fully broken ankle. He was hunched over slightly, the blue briefcase nearly dragging on the floor. Even Sniper had to admit-he felt bad for the spook.

"What'n tarnation happened to you, fella?" Engie exclaimed, making towards Spy and offering to help him. Spy held up a gloved hand, stayed bent down for a few moments, then stood up straight again and limped into the room. Medic winced every time he did.

"I will explain that later. For now, this is far more important,"

* * *

About an hour later, the papers of the briefcase had been spilled out onto Medic's desk and the whole of RED team was in hysterics.

"What would they want with files like these? This isn't any of their business!" Demo ranted in the corner to no one in particular.

"We _have _been freakin' creamin' them lately. Maybe they were devisin' a strategy to take us down?" Scout suggested with a shrug.

"Tell me no one's seen mine, bitte," Medic bent over the desk, desperately searching for a few papers that were lost among his own. Spy had his arms mostly crossed, one hand holding the cigarette up to his mouth, leaning against the desk. Everyone was spewing absolute nonsense.

"Do not worry, I have not read any of them. I do not believe in prying on my own team's past," Spy assured the frantic German, who seemed to relax a bit but did not stop his search. In the back of his mind Spy began to regret telling them about the briefcase.

The papers, he'd discovered, had been stolen from The Admin and smuggled here by the BLUs in perhaps a drastic attempt at finding more out about the REDs. Knowing your enemy's weakness was one way to defeat them-but stealing important papers from _The Admin _herself. Well, that was like setting your own head on a silver platter, and he was almost certain that she knew. Somehow.

The Admin had her ways. She controlled absolutely everything that happened in Mann Co. You didn't do anything without her knowing. Still, they seemed pretty safe right now. There was no way she could get out to them.

Among the papers were much darker secrets about Mann Co., that Spy had chosen to keep to himself for now. He wasn't sure he could trust his own team with them. It wasn't that he _didn't _trust them, it's that they could let the information slip out easily.

"We do not need to worry about this now, Doctor. I can assure you, these files will be kept safe. Though, I can't be certain the BLUs haven't gone through them already. From the looks of it, they have," Spy blew a warm puff of smoke into the cold air. Soon his team members quieted down, and Medic, somewhat contented with Spy's assurance, stopped searching for his paper. They all stared at each other for a long time.

"So, now they know us? _All _about us? Our names, where we lived, our lives, everything?" Engie said quietly. Spy nodded curtly.

"Oui. They know all about you, they know all about me. They know all of us. The only thing I can figure is that, being completely disconnected from The Admin's power like this will convince them even more to come and strike again. If they do, we will have to forget that respawn isn't working. We protect our team first, at all costs,"

"Herr Spy, if I could stop you zhere for a moment," Medic interrupted. He had a stack of papers in his hand with a slight look of surprise on his face. "Zhese papers, zhey are zhe BLU team's files,"

* * *

"It's gone,"

BLU Spy stood, hunched over the table in the small side room of the base with a flashlight in one gloved hand. "It's…gone,"

Engie and Demo watched from behind his as the spook repeated the same words over and over again. They knew very well what he was talking about-he was talking about the briefcase.

"We should have kept it safer, we should have!" His voice grew louder and he slammed the flashlight down on the table, causing it to flicker out for a moment and giving and even more eerie lighting to The Frenchman.

"Maybe…maybe it wasn't the REDs who took it," BLU Engie suggested with a small shrug. "Stealin' The Admin's papers was a dangerous enough job-maybe she got'r hands back on them?" Immediately he was answered by Spy shaking his head.

"Non. If she _really _knew, we would all be waving goodbye from our graves. I know for a _fact _they have the papers," The two mercs noticed the scowl on the spook's face, even with his back turned.

"Then…what d'you suppose we do about it? We already know all about'm, isn't that enough?" Demo piped up, trying to be helpful. Spy shot him an icy glare.

"No, don't you see, it wasn't about _knowing _them! It was…it was…!" He turned, rubbing his hand down his face. He was too tired and cold and frustrated to deal with this. Not only had the REDs killed Soldier for good, they'd taken the most important papers in Mann Co.-perhaps on the planet.

"It's getting too dangerous to go out there and attack'm repeatedly," Engie commented as a gust of wind hammered the roof. "And our rations are growing dangerously low. We didn't pack enough of'm to keep us for this long. Didn't expect to stay in this forsaken place this long," He let out a long sigh, and then glanced at Spy.

"Oui, you are right, it is too dangerous," Engie and Demo were all geared up to lecture him about endangering the whole team for some papers, but stopped short when it occurred to them what he actually said.

"R-really? I mean, I already knew that, why'd ya think I pointed it out?" Engie tried to recover, but now it was too late.

"You are right. It's too dangerous to go as a team, which is why I will go retrieve the papers on my own," Spy muttered, fiddling with his cloaking watch. This time, Demo and Engie did lecture him.  
"Y'can't go out there, lad, it's a bloody blizzard out there! One wrong move and BAM, yer dead, forever! If the RED's catch ye as well, you'll be a goner! If they do have the papers like ye said they did, then surely they'd want some kind of revenge!"

"Demo's right. We need all hands 'round here helpin' us to weather out this storm-no pun intended. I won't be standin' over your grave as well as Sol's," Engie and Demo both glanced at Spy seriously.

"Non. My mind is set. I will retrieve those papers-no matter the cost,"


	4. Your Choice

**Posting this now because it's simply a filler chapter. I really, really enjoyed writing the beginning, so I hope you all like it!**

It was absolutely silent in RED base. The entire team had left for bed hours ago. It was roughly 3:00 in the morning. Nothing stirred, save the wind whipping around the heavy, wet snowflakes. It was almost as if RED had been abandoned.

And this is what worried BLU Spy. Even though it was past midnight, _someone _had to be up. He clutched the butterfly knife close to his chest as he pressed himself up against the wall near a corner. Carefully, he peaked down the dark hallway. Nothing. He did the same thing at the next hallway. Still, there was nothing; nothing but the sound of his own heart racing.

This wasn't a game anymore. If any of them died, they would die for good. The BLUs had especially learned that the hard way. But, Spy pondered, it was partly their fault for attacking the REDs. He didn't like to admit it, but deep in the back of his mind, he knew it was the truth.

It wouldn't stop him from retrieving the papers though. Carefully, he came to the last room he had to check besides the mercenaries' dorms. That would be Medic's lab. He peered in through the windows into the dark, cold room. Much to his surprise, no one was there. No one was anywhere at all.

That didn't matter, though, he told himself. All that mattered were those papers. Spy gingerly pushed open the door which squeaked slightly in protest. He cringed, waited, then slipped inside before the door could make any more noise. It was just as dark inside as the rest of the base, but he'd prepared for this, clicking on a very dim flashlight that he figured was safe to use. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous, but none of the REDs were anywhere to be seen.

His blue eyes fell upon the countertop with the briefcase sitting there, papers neatly tucked inside. There was a wave of relief followed by the feeling of tension as he drew closer to it. Every howl of wind seemed like it were out to get him.

The spook rested a hand on the briefcase, which was ice cold. The feeling burned through his gloves as he hefted it upright. He flicked the flashlight off, listened for anyone who might be coming, then began to back out of the room.

Suddenly, there was a soft _bump_ing sound. BLU Spy froze, heart hammering in his chest, throat growing dry. He dared not look over his shoulder, but could feel the breathing of the person on his neck and smelled the scent of cigarette smoke. There was a moment of silence, then with an involuntary shudder, he turned around to come face-to-face with the RED spook.

"Bonjour," The RED said quietly, fiddling with his cloaking device. He had a wooden crutch under his right arm-the only thing Medic could give him for his ankle. The spook was no more than a haunting, hunched over shape in the darkness. BLU Spy tried not to let his terror show, and stood upright to face his counterpart.

"Hello," He replied, the briefcase hanging down by his side. RED Spy cast a casual glance at it.

"I was cloaked. Waiting for you here. I knew you would come for the briefcase, so I sent my team away. We needed to discuss this alone," He said. There was an ominous seriousness in his voice. "Put the briefcase on the desk,"

BLU Spy hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should simply use the butterfly knife which was closed at his side and then run away.

"_Put the briefcase down," _RED Spy hissed again with an icier note. Immediately, BLU Spy set it on the low desk behind him, startled by the force of his voice.

"All right. It's down. Now, what do you want? You could simply kill me right now, and be rid of me forever," He said, trying to sound just as menacing. Red Spy held a cigarette between his lips and a lighter between his two hands.

"Because I don't want to kill you," He said in a soft, slightly muffled voice. "This isn't the time to be fighting. I just want to talk," He sat down in one of Medic's rolling chairs and gestured for the BLU to do the same. He did, but RED Spy noted the hesitation in his every movement, and the wariness in his eyes. It was only to be expected.

"Well, get on with it. What do you want?" He persisted. RED Spy simply held up a hand, still attempting to light the cigarette.

"We both know you BLUs have looked at the files in that briefcase," He said, after what seemed like hours. "We both know that my team and I have as well. Which means we both know each other's weaknesses. Now, we could use this information to relentlessly kill each other. If you want to be cold hearted and pick this option, be my guest. But I was talking earlier, and the REDs agree, we shouldn't fight," He paused, blowing out a puff of smoke. "We should team up,"

The BLU Spy's eyes widened. RED and BLU work together? That was absolutely unheard of! Still, the circumstances they were in were also unheard of. They were trapped at Coldfront, and Spy guessed that like the BLUs, the REDs were also running low on rations. With their combined abilities, surely they could survive.

"But…I do not know how my team will react to this. It may be hard to convince them," He pointed out, a more confident tone in his voice.

"Oui. I know. It will be hard to convince them, considering the last few days," A small smile crept across RED Spy's face as he recounted the numerous victories of his team against the BLUs. A cold wind hammered against the roof again, breaking the silence. BLU Spy still said nothing.

"Think about it," The RED answered, standing up from his chair. "Do what you may now. Take the briefcase. Slaughter us all. Whatever happens will weigh on _your _shoulders. You know where to find us when you have your answer," He pushed some buttons on his cloaking watch, then vanished into the air, leaving BLU Spy alone with his own conflicts.

* * *

The vast sea of clouds above Coldfront lit ablaze when the sun rose behind them. More and more snow piled up on the ground, slower than it had the night before. While some would consider it beautiful, it was also absolutely deadly. Whatever the storm did was up to it, and no one else could control it.

RED Soldier, as was to be expected, had woken up promptly at 6 that morning. He attempted to drag the others out of bed, only to find their dorms empty. It wasn't too concerning though. His team was not very orderly. They'd never last a day in the army.

He continued down the hallway, shrugging the coat around his shoulders even more. As he got closer to the main control point room, he was surprised to hear voices. He couldn't possibly imagine what his team would be doing at this hour. They only woke up that early if he took a shovel to their door and dragged them forcefully out of bed.

Soldier picked up the pace slightly and peaked around the corner from the hallway. All he caught was a flash of BLU in the dim light before he jerked back around and pressed himself against the wall. There were BLUs. All of them, it looked like. They were everywhere, invading _his _base! He desperately wished that he had his shotgun on him, but he'd left it back at his dorm.

He suddenly saw a flicker of RED pass the hallway. Spy was walking calmly away from the BLUs, as if this were okay! Pouncing suddenly like a cat, he grabbed Spy by the back of his collar, who yelped in surprise, and dragged him around into the hallway.

"Don't look now, son. There are BLUs crawling everywhere out there," He whispered, still clinging to the collar of Spy's jacket as if his life depended on it.

"Oui. I know!" Spy snapped, trying to jerk free of Soldier's death grip. A few moments after saying that, Soldier released him and he staggered forward on his one good foot.

"You…_know_?! And you haven't done anything about it?! Private, I am _ashamed _of you!" Soldier stomped a foot down on the ground. "Now, can you tell me _why _you haven't gone and driven them out?!" Spy recovered himself, crossly dusting off his coat.

"RED has teamed up with BLU now, until we can get to a different map," He explained casually, as if it were nothing. It certainly was something to Soldier, whose eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"We?!" He jerked a thumb towards Spy and himself. "We teamed up with THEM!?" He threw both his thumbs back at the main control point room where the BLUs were still awkwardly standing. "I demand to know WHY I wasn't informed of this!" He was now up in Spy's face, shouting very loudly. A couple members of the BLU team glanced up in confusion, staring at where the noise was coming from.

"I knew you would object, so I simply didn't tell you. It's too late now," Spy backed up from the angry soldier, then before he could tackle him again hurriedly rushed around the corner.

Soldier warily peered after him, glancing at the BLUs who all stared at him with curious glances. He held up two fingers, pointed them at his eyes, then back at all of them, quietly slipping back around the hallway.

* * *

Sniper had wandered out of Medic's lab late that morning. There was no sign of the Doc anywhere, and he'd had a rough night. He needed to stretch out his legs. The makeshift bed wasn't what you'd call an actual bed. More like a cold metal surface with a worn out slab of foam draped over it, a thick blanket and a stained feather pillow. Not to mention, Medic's doves had constantly pestered him for hours on end. It was as if they were small children at a petting zoo.

Still, he guessed he did like the company. For most of the night Medic had disappeared somewhere. He sure didn't know where. Medic would always vanish for hours on end, and then suddenly show up out of the blue, sometimes with a new little gadget or science experiment under his belt. It was interesting, Sniper thought with a smile. He had hardly spoken with his team members at all since they were stranded here, and he felt like he knew them more than ever.

He shivered slightly as he walked down the quiet hallway. It seemed most everyone was in the main control point room, so he pointedly avoided it. Better to do so than end up in a conversation he couldn't carry on. He started to wonder if Spy actually had run into his counterpart last night, and if they really did talk about teaming up. When he agreed, at the time, it seemed like nothing. He'd just said yes because there was no way BLU and RED would ever be able to team up, and he'd wanted the spook to go away.

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, it just as quickly vanished. He was rounding the same hallway corner he'd rounded about two days before, and did the exact same thing. Bumped into something that wasn't there. The color drained from his face slightly as he stumbled backwards a bit, telling himself that it was just their Spy. He'd decloak and be crooked over the wooden crutch Medic gave him, they'd exchange a few words and then awkwardly slip away. That was usually how conversations with the spook went.

Soon though, he realized as his pulse sped up a bit, that this was in fact the BLU Spy. He shimmered into view, and the two enemy mercs stood and stared at each other for a painfully long time. The Spy glanced down at his arm in the sling, then back at him. There was nothing the BLU could possibly say. They were murderer and victim, meeting in a forced alliance.

"I…" Spy started, lost for words. There was a slight bitter tension hanging in the air, as present as the freezing temperatures around them. "I see you're…alive,"

The sentence made things all the more awkward, and all the more bitter. Sniper's eyes narrowed. He still had hardly any respect for the spook.

"Surprised?" He responded, standing up taller. He was determined to convince the BLU that, even with his arm in the cast, he wasn't to be trifled with. It didn't seem to be working.

"Honestly, a little bit," the ghost of a smirk crossed Spy's face-but it portrayed no amusement. "You must have a good Doctor,"

"Yeah, well," Sniper leaned up against the wall and crossed one foot behind the other. "I'm pretty 'ard to get rid of. Going to take a lot more than a measly revolver," He glanced at the ground. "So then…Spy told you about the…" the bushman trailed off, growing increasingly more fascinated with his shoes.

"Yes. He did. I will tell you now it was not an easy feat to convince my team," the BLU responded. They both knew exactly what they were talking about. So it looked like they really did team up.

"And you'll be stayin' 'ere at RED, then," Sniper said. It was really more of a statement than a question.

"Oui. We will be. It will be hard, but we'll find space," The two found themselves in silence once again, neither of them making eye contact with the other.

"Just…try and keep to yourself. I don't want ta find any BLUs in my dorm. Keep in mind, this is only a temporary alliance. As soon as any of 'ya cross the line, well," Sniper paused. "I'm sure Spy already lectured you about this, I'm just trying to let you know where I stand," BLU Spy nodded.

"I understand. I will leave you to yourself, then," He fiddled with a few buttons on his cloaking watch then vanished into the air. Sniper stared at where the spook was just standing, as if expecting him to suddenly jump out and attack him. Nothing. He'd really gone down the hallway

Though, why spies always had to cloak before leaving was a mystery Sniper would never solve.


	5. Nothing Left to Say

**Longest chapter by far! This one took a lot of thought, a _lot_ of revising, and a lot of songs to listen to [music fuels my writing!] It's based off of the Imagine Dragons song "Nothing Left to Say". If you haven't heard it, go check it out.**

**So now, sit back, relax, and enjoy Chapter 5!**

_Dienstag_

_We've been stuck at Coldfront for drei days now without any power. Temperatures are dropping rapidly and the team is showing signs of first degree frostbite. It's not fatal now, but it will get to that point if I can't find a way to help them. The medigun is of some help, but even that has its limits._

Medic wrote on a small piece of paper that he had on his desk, before tucking it away somewhere else. It was his little version of a journal, though most of the papers were lost or scattered out of order. He'd been closed up in his lab for the duration of the day, partly because he'd rather not have a run in with any of the BLUs, and partly because Scout was there being treated for his developing frostbite. So far, it was the worst of all his teammates.

"How much longer do I have'ta stay heerreee," He moaned, flopping sideways in the bed and glancing up at Medic pathetically.

"However long it takes," Medic responded, not even casting a glance at him. The medigun was pointed at Scout leaning on its side on the table across from him, the handle tied to the nozzle to keep it going. It was harder to keep it running when he couldn't just hook it up to the machine above the bed.

Scout flopped back over and started drumming loudly with his fingernails on the stainless steel table next to him, humming something without a melody and constantly fidgeting. His curious eyes scanned over the small desk that Medic dropped everything on.

"Do I at least get like…a lollipop or something'?" Scout shrugged, picking at the gauze that was always wrapped around his hands. Medic sighed, bending over and digging a brightly colored one out of one of the drawers. He always kept a little stash there for whenever Scout demanded one. Which was basically every time Scout got stuck in his lab. He snatched it out of Medic's hands then poked it into his mouth, making him look years younger than he actually was.

"So…d'ya ever get lonely in here? Y'know, you just kinda hide away in here. Not that I blame 'ya right now, of course. I don't particularly wanna be out there with them BLUs either," Scout asked, his voice muffled by the lollipop in his mouth. He played around with it and slurped noisily.

"I vould prefer to be alone in here. Zhe rush of battle is exhilarating, but sometimes it's nice to calm down," Medic responded to Scout genuinely, which slightly surprised him. He grinned, glad the German was actually communicating with him.

"It would kill me if I had ta stay cooped up in here all the time. Guess that's just me," He said, tossing a wad of cloth up into the air that he'd found on the table. When Medic didn't reply, he glanced back at the unorganized desk, and spotted the small picture on it, tucked away in the corner and sitting on various papers.

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing at the old frame. This time he noticed tenseness in the air after he posed the question, and immediately wished he could draw it back.

"Sorry, uh, something wrong?" Scout muttered, an uneasy grin creeping across his face.

"Nein. It is all right, Häschens. Zhe person in zhe photo is my wife," Medic responded, adjusting his glasses and sitting down in the desk chair. Scout hung over the side of the bed to see if he could get a better look at the small, faded photograph.

"She's pretty. Why didn't 'cha tell us ya' had a wife? And, where is she now? Can't imagine they'd let her in Mann Co. Ha, no," The quirkiness returned to Scout's voice, but when he saw Medic's facial expression it dropped.

"She's dead," Medic's response was barely more than a whisper, and it frightened Scout to see him like this.

"Aw, man, I'm so sorry," He flipped onto his back and intently stared at the ceiling. Neither of them said anything more.

After all, there was nothing left to say.

* * *

Scout was eager to get out of Medic's lab. He'd wished sometimes he could keep his mouth shut. But now he was released for the day, and finally he could get away from there. If there was one thing he hated, it was emotional conflict. The regular conflict of battle was something he could face every day, easy. But emotional conflict was something totally alien to him, and the only thing he'd admit to being afraid of.

Other than that, no, he wasn't afraid of anything. At all. He kept thinking this, head held up in the air slightly, fiddling with the sucker in his mouth. He noted a few of the BLU's eyes on him, and held himself up in an even more egoistic manner. Just a little reminder that _he _owned this place, not them.

The only problem was, his counterpart thought he did as well. He came down the next hallway, swinging his bat around against the walls carelessly and nearly whacked the RED in the face with it. Scout was lucky for his quick reflexes, otherwise his face would've been bashed in.

"Hey, watch where yer swingin' that thing!" He snapped, adjusting his baseball cap which had been knocked askew. The BLU Scout swung his bat over his shoulder.

"Why don't you watch where yer goin'?" He retorted, a fiery smirk on his face. The RED scowled. He wasn't going to take this sitting down.

"Because typically we don't have ta' worry about idiots swingin' around baseball bats indoors," He seethed, taking a few steps forward. BLU Scout, having no reply to this, glanced down the hallway where Medic's double doors were swinging in and out gently. A grin spread across his face.

"Oooh, did the baby just come from the Doc's? And, what's that, ah, did he give you a lollipop?" He leaned forward and plucked the orange sucker from RED Scout's mouth with a pop, who then indignantly grabbed for it.

"Yes, I did in fact come from Medic's. And yes, he did. S'not like I asked for it or nothin', I was just bein' polite you know! An' I didn't actually get hurt. At all. Just this dang 'frostbite' whatsit," He held up his hands, which were growing a sickly color around his fingernails. BLU Scout recoiled slightly, still holding onto the lollipop.

"That's freakin' _disgusting_! Then again, what could I expect from a bunch of lazy, sloppy REDs other than them not having something as simple as _gloves_. Probably can't afford luxuries like that, can 'ya?" The BLU sneered, showing Scout the small blue gloves over his hands. Scout slapped them away and glared at the BLU.

"Hey, we can _too _afford gloves. Leave it to a BLU to make misjudgments like that. See it happen all the time with you pompous freaks," The RED Scout hissed, lashing forward and grabbing onto the sucker end of the lollipop, his hands getting coated in the sticky substance. Regardless, he popped it right back into his mouth and crossed his arms. BLU Scout stumbled backwards then grabbed onto his hat.

"You take that _back_," He growled, a less playful note in his voice.

"And just what if I _don't_," Red Scout leaned all his weight on one leg, giving him a 'just you try me' sort of look. The two stood in a stare down for few moments, then the BLU lashed out and tried to grab the metal baseball bat he'd dropped on the floor. Fortunately, RED Scout reacted in time and in a swift motion, knocked the weapon away and sent it rolling across the cement floor down the hallway. BLU Scout glanced up angrily. _No one _touched his bat.

"Problem?" Scout bent over so that he was at height with his counterpart, bent over still as if his baseball bat were still there. Instantly the BLU rushed forward, knocking Scout onto his back and hitting his head against the cement. His hat flew off as he gasped in surprise, the wind nearly knocked out of him. The BLU Scout was quickly on top of him, pinning his wrists to the ground.

"You think you can just boss us around like this?! Like you _own _everything in the whole world?!" He hissed, bending closer to Scout's face. Scout tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. "Typical _RED _behavior,"

That was the second insult at Scout's allegiance, and he _was not _going to let that slide. He struggled up against the BLU on top of him, kicking up at his exposed stomach with his legs. The BLU Scout grunted in surprise as suddenly the tables were turned, and the RED was on top of him, yelling insults in his face.

"And I suppose sneak attacks are another of the BLUs specialties! Catchin' someone off guard and not even facin' him to see the light leave his eyes when you kill'm. Makes me _sick_," The BLU Scout tried to kick the RED off of him, but his grip was tight into his wrists. He even felt his circulation getting cut off. Even though Scout's hands looked _horrendous_, they felt by no means weaker.

"Now. I'll let you go. If you breath one more comment about RED like that, I'll make sure it's your last. Respawn or no respawn," Scout seethed quietly in the BLUs ear, so only he could hear. Wordlessly, BLU Scout rigidly nodded. If there was one thing he hated more, it was admitting defeat to a fight-especially one he started.

The pressure from his wrists lifted and he sat up, rubbing them gently. The RED didn't stop to help him up, instead, picked up his hat and earpiece, set them back on his head, and angrily rushed to his dorm. BLU Scout rubbed his neck.

"REDs…" He muttered.

* * *

As the day wore on, the frayed nerves of all the mercs were ready to snap. It wasn't until the evening that they actually did.

"Whadda 'ya mean, there won't be any dinner tonight?! I'm _starving_," Scout moaned, flopped on the ground with his hands across his chest. Another one of Medic's lollipops was poking out of his mouth.

"I think you'll be just fine, sport. You've been eating those suckers all day," Engie said, nudging Scout with the tip of his shoe, who dramatically flopped onto his stomach. "We're running too low on food rations ta spare any until we _absolutely _need them. Even combined with the BLUs resources, we're still too low,"

The weary eyes of every merc in the room fell to the floor disappointedly. A couple started arguing loudly with each other.

"I _told _ye not to eat that much at breakfast!" Demoman shouted at Heavy, who glowered at the scot.

"Was not my fault. I am big man, need more than you," Heavy rumbled, standing much taller than Demo. He shrank under his gaze, but still, held on the argument.

In the corner, Sniper sat with a scowl set on his face. First, he couldn't get his coffee when the power went out. Then, he couldn't even eat? The grouchy bushman was being pushed closer and closer to the edge with each day, and he was about ready to bite the head off the next person who crossed him. He'd also spent about an hour in Medic's lab, getting treated for a slowly developing frost bite. Between his broken arm and everything else that happened, he was simply _done_.

He stormed out of the kitchen as Medic was shouting to calm Heavy and Demo, and stood just outside the door for a few moments.

"People, people, settle down!" He heard the German exclaim. "As long as ve still have enough water, ve can survive,"

"Hey…Doc, hate to break it to ya'…but, our water's frozen solid," Sniper heard Engie pipe up. He frowned to himself.

"Vell zhen get zhe Pyro and have him melt it with his flamethrower!"

Sniper chose that moment to kick from the wall. He didn't want to listen in any more. It seemed a few mercs had thought the same thing, for after him a few more filed out of the kitchen. Scout, Engie and Medic were the only ones remaining, bickering worriedly among themselves. Sniper had never seen Medic so upset. It was worrying.

He walked down the hallway to his dorm, still deeply disappointed that he couldn't sleep in his van. It was cold, dark, and small inside, but right now Sniper didn't care. He flopped down on the short mattress and took off his aviators, closing his eyes. Though his hope had almost been completely shattered, there was still the faint feeling that they'd get out of this place soon enough. It would all be over before they knew it.

* * *

It was 9:00 PM, a sudden jolt of adrenalin shaking Sniper out of his sleep. He sat up, cool beads of sweat forming on his face. He frowned and started muttering crossly to himself, as he realized that once again he'd woken up suddenly. It happened a lot. A sudden rush of terror would flash through him, and then he'd be flying out of his bed. He didn't know why. He never knew what caused the sudden rushes of adrenalin. But they'd plagued him for a while now.

It was fairly quiet outside, from what he could hear behind his door. Shivering, he stood up and awkwardly half-shrugged on a jacket. He didn't feel much like falling back to sleep at the moment. The jacket hung limply over his left shoulder, where the warm cast was still tightly wrapped around his arm. It would've healed faster if he stayed under the medigun more often, but it was also needed to treat the frostbite he and his team were developing.

Sniper quietly slipped out of his room and into the hallway, rubbing his aching eyes. Few team members milled about, though most had already gone off to their dorms, tired, hungry, and cold. Wind blew snow in at the end of the hallway where the hallway opened to the outside. It didn't help the rapidly decreasing temperatures, so Sniper pointedly avoided walking that way.

Most of the doors down the hallway were closed, and he could only guess that his teammates had gone to bed early. Each night they'd fall asleep earlier and earlier. He wondered if it had something to do with the temperatures. Regardless, he noticed something a bit out of place. The door to Scout's room was propped open slightly, as if someone had been closing it and simply gave up. Curiously, he poked his head into the dark room.

He'd never actually been in Scout's room. He made out the shapes of an old TV sitting on a small desk with a lamp on it in the corner. Various blankets and things were scattered on the floor, and a box was tucked at the foot of his bed. Scout was curled up on his side, facing away from the door on the small mattress.

"'Ey Scout. I noticed yer door was open. Hope ya don't mind me closin' it," He mumbled, his voice groggy. No answer.

"…All right. You must just be asleep, so," He trailed off, then made to close the door, but something stopped him. A terrible feeling of worry welled up in his chest. He tried pushing it aside, wondering what brought the feeling on. Perhaps he should just check on the boy. See if he needed anything.

"Scout," Sniper whispered, edging into the room. "Scout, wake up," He knelt down by his bed and gently shook Scout's shoulder.

Instantly he knew something was terribly wrong. Scout's skin was colder than it should be, so much so that he could feel it through his glove. He clenched up, gripped by a sick wave of worry suddenly and he flipped Scout onto his back forcefully. The way he flopped back, as though he were no more than a ragdoll caused the color to drain from Sniper's face.

"Scout, Scout! For cryin' out loud, bloody wake up!" His voice grew louder with worry. He bent down and attempted to register a pulse. Grabbing at Scout's wrist, he yanked off the wrapping around it and jammed his thumb into it. Nothing. He gently squeezed the side of his neck. Still nothing.

Sniper's heart hammered in his chest loudly as he hefted the boy onto his knees, ignoring the pain his arm was giving him. There had to be something he could do. There had to be _anything_. But there was only one thing he knew how to do in this situation.

"MEDIC! MEDIC!"

* * *

Medic jerked up in his chair when he heard someone screaming for him somewhere down the hall. Something must have been terribly wrong. Without even thinking of grabbing anything, he bolted down the hallway to where he heard the voice coming from-Scout's room. It was cracked open slightly and Medic could make out two figures on the ground. Sniper turned wordlessly, moving aside to show him the limp ragdoll of Scout.

"H…he's not wakin' up," Sniper's voice was breaking with worry. Medic's eyes widened in the dark as he saw Scout resting in the bushman's lap.

"Get him to my lab. Now,"

Without a moment's hesitation, Sniper jumped upright and managed to sling Scout over his remaining good shoulder. The two bolted out into the hallway, and Sniper realized just how serious this was in better light. Scout's skin was completely discolored and frozen in some places. The stick of one of the lollipops he'd been sucking on poked out from between his abnormally pale lips.

"What'n the…" Engie jumped out of the way of the two mercs as they plowed past the hallway he was walking down. "Where're you two going?!" He shouted after them, catching a slight glimpse of Scout's horrendous condition; but if he really knew what was going on, he'd understand.

As soon as they reached Medic's lab they threw open the doors and hit the desk in the corner. It slid over a few inches and papers flew off of it, the small desk lamp toppling to the ground as well. The light bulb in it shattered against the cold cement floor.

"On zhe table," Medic ordered Sniper. Wordlessly, Sniper obeyed, resting Scout gently on the old foam pad. Medic shoved the medigun into Sniper's arms suddenly and he stumbled backwards.

"Keep zhis pointed at him-don't remove it for EIN second," His voice was firm but rattled with fear. Sniper's blue eyes widened and he struggled to get a grip on the large devices before finding a steady position and pushing the lever forward. It spluttered to life and the red beam enveloped his fallen teammate.

Medic rushed around the lab, throwing around various tools and papers, searching for anything that might be of any help. Sniper watched, terrified at the amount of emotion. He was watching his teammate slowly unravel and fall apart in despair. And it was. True despair.

He couldn't find a single thing that would help them. Hurriedly he bent over Scout and tipped his head backwards slightly, plucking the sucker stick from his mouth. His heart had stopped completely, for how long he didn't know. Long enough to take its toll on the boy's frail frame. Without power, there wasn't anything he could do other than desperately perform CPR. It was too surreal. He'd never been so unprepared in his life.

"Come on…come on…you can't _die _on us, Häschens!" He muttered through gritted teeth, hammering on Scout's chest. He was slowly spiraling out of control, getting to the point where he was simply hammering on the boy's chest.

"Don't die…you can't die…" More hammering. "I can bring you back, I can heal you, just don't die!" Silence was the response. Medic continued his frantic attempt at starting the boy's heart, though he knew it was absolutely, positively pointless.

Scout was already dead.

* * *

The night passed by, painfully slow. No one had said anything, they simply stared at the double doors of Medic's lab. Inside, they heard pained shouting and saw papers flying. Among the things that Medic was yelling, they repeatedly heard the words 'my fault'. A sort of quiet sadness hung over the air. No one could sleep. No one could move. It was as if they were all frozen in time.

Even all the BLUs had gathered around, though it was evident they didn't share the same feelings as the REDs. They were simply there out of mutual respect-all except their Sniper, who'd said a few very harsh things about the REDs and stalked off somewhere else. It was like putting salt on an open wound.

BLU Scout seemed to be the only one who actually cared. He stood next to Engie outside of Medic's lab, an extremely distressed expression on his face. He hadn't breathed a word about the scuffle earlier, worrying that somehow it may have caused his counterpart's death. If it did, he'd never be able to forgive himself. Not for as long as he lived-which could quite possibly be forever. At Mann Co., you were never certain of anything.

Not a single one of them spoke a word as they huddled around each, carrying flashlights much like when they were first waiting for Sniper the second day here. What a time that was. The entire team gathered around, laughing, embracing their teammate in many hugs. Except this time, there was no celebration. No joking words were exchanged; no words at all were exchanged.

There was nothing left to say.


	6. Some Nights

**Posting this chapter now because I'll be going on a short fall break trip and probably won't be able to get in much writing. This is more of a short, sweet filler chapter, so sorry to any who were expecting more action! I'll get on that soon.**

The following morning, the team finally got into Medic's lab. The German had spent all night locked up in it, repeatedly trying to revive Scout. He kept muttering about how he could bring him back to life, after all, there was respawn, which defied all laws of nature. Why couldn't they bring Scout back just as easily?

It took all of the team members to convince him to let Scout go-and also it took Heavy, who had to hold him back while they hefted Scout's body off the table. It was disconcerting for everyone to see a normally calm, collected and eccentric man reduced to this. He struggled against Heavy, shouting something in broken English mixed with German.

"Let me go, Ich kann ihm helfen!"

Heavy, who was closer to the Doctor than most, had a hard time keeping him restrained like this. But he knew very well that there was nothing Medic could do. Scout was gone. Forever.

The Pyro stayed behind in Medic's lab as the others went outside to bury their fallen teammate. The poor firebug trembled as it watched Heavy and Medic over in the corner. It hurriedly closed the double doors that Scout had passed through for the last time, sealing off the outside world. Wind whistled between the cracks in the doors. It then proceeded to sit on one of the stainless steel counters as Heavy released Medic who staggered forward and caught himself on the bed.

"It's my fault…" He muttered, finally resuming comprehensible speech, grabbing at the old foam pad on the bed. It faintly smelled of the BONK! Atomic Punch that Scout would drink ever so often.

"Is not your fault," Heavy stood just behind Medic, one hand on his teammate's shoulder. The Pyro sat on the counter, kicking its legs like a three year old and watching the two sadly.

"Ja, it is. I could've saved him if I'd tried harder!" He fiddled with the old foam pad some more, nervously picking bits from it and dropping them on the floor. Pyro glanced outside the faded windows of the double doors.

"Hudda mmph," It muttered, turning back to Medic and hopping from the counter, no longer able to stand simply sitting there. It outstretched its arms and gestured for Medic to stand up. The German looked up at the firebug, staggering to his feet. Immediately it embraced him tightly, squeezing him close. He yelped in surprise, then let Pyro squeeze him to its heart's content.

"Danke schön, Pyro," Medic mumbled. It was nice to receive the rib-crushing hug from the firebug. Sometimes, a physical hug spoke louder than any words ever could. Heavy stood behind the two, a sad smile creeping across his face.

"Mmmph mmm mmph," Pyro responded, a melancholy note in its voice. It released the German from its tight hug, who then sat back on the bed.

"Heavy, Pyro," Medic started, glancing between the two. They both fell silent.

"Promise me you vill not be going anyvhere," Heavy and Pyro glanced at each other, then shook their heads quickly in response.

"Nyet. Will never abandon Doctor," Heavy rumbled, a smile creeping across his face once more.

"Mmph mmmph!" Pyro exclaimed, sitting down next to Medic on the bed. He glanced between his two teammates once again, leaning forward, tucking his hands neatly in his lap.

For the first time in the past few days, he smiled.

* * *

RED Spy lingered inside the base. He hadn't been one for physically showing emotion, especially in front of his teammates, so he stayed in away from them. The death of Scout did in fact leave a mark on the battle-scarred spook, and he wondered if this was how the BLUs felt when they found out their Soldier was gone for good. The thought struck a chord. Perhaps the BLUs really did have feelings after all.

"So…your Scout is dead, then," A soft voice behind him caused Spy to jump forward suddenly. He whirled around to come face-to-face with his counterpart, who had had a bemused look on his face.

"Oui. He…is," The RED Spook bit his tongue to keep his voice from breaking. Clearly, though, the BLU had noticed it.

"Then I guess you know how it feels. To lose someone you're close to," He said, a slightly icy note in his voice. "You know how we felt when you killed the Soldier,"

"I didn't know respawn was down. No one did!" Spy snapped back suddenly. In an instant his utter sorrow had flicked to raw anger in zero seconds flat. "If you hadn't attacked us, he might be here to this day," The BLU spook held his gloved hands in the air.

"Calm down. I didn't come here to accuse you," He said smoothly, remaining unusually calm. It made Spy grimace.

"Then…why are you here," He asked, settling down. The flare of anger that had sprung up like wildfire had dimmed down just as quickly.

"To tell you that now we're on even ground," the BLU explained. "An eye for an eye, so to speak. Our Soldier for your Scout. Simple,"

"This isn't about our teams being balanced, and it _isn't _about grudges," RED Spy hissed back. The little fire that was his anger was sporadically blazing high then calming down again. "It's not about being even anymore, and it's not about the petty rivalry between REDs and BLUs. If you really wanted everyone to survive, you would cooperate instead of acting like immature children who didn't get their way, _mon ami_," He sarcastically spat the words in the BLU Spy's face, who simply turned his head and squinted one eye under the shouting of the furious RED.

"Unless, it is," the BLU spook uttered quietly, backing up a few paces and lighting a cigarette. RED Spy gave him a queer look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned, suddenly wishing he had his own cigarettes with him. But he was running low, and if he had to survive here without them, well, he may as well die on the spot.

"Shouldn't you care about your _own _survival? You're so caught up in your team and our team's survival, you're tearing yourself apart. You can't save everyone, you know. There aren't enough supplies for that, and people are going to die. So I say, it's survival of the fittest. Whoever is still alive wins," the BLU spook casually shrugged, as if the topic were something casual to talk about. The RED Spy was shocked to see how hard-hearted his counterpart was being. Perhaps, this whole thing had taken its toll on the BLU spook already.

"You honestly can't be serious!" Spy exclaimed, biting the tip of his tongue once again. He looked into his counterpart's eyes, but what he saw there was cold nothingness.

"I'm very, very serious," The BLU Spy's tone was grave as the two stared at each other. "And I can guarantee I'll be one of the last of us standing. I can only wish you will be too, _mon ami_," The same biting sarcastic phrase Spy had used earlier was turned against him, and it hurt. As much as he didn't like the BLUs, he at least had any hope left. What he saw in front of him now was not his counterpart-his petty enemy for countless years. Not anymore, at least. No, what he saw in front of him was a cold-hearted, closed-minded man falling back on primal survival instincts and trying to pass them as civil. He couldn't force any words out of his mouth, sadness gripping his tongue once again.

The BLU Spy, obviously done with the conversation, turned on a heel.

"Best of luck to you. Only fate can determine this ending,"

* * *

For the rest of the day, a melancholy stillness hung over the base. It cut through the raging of the wind, and the torrential flow of snow. It was unlike anything that the REDs had ever felt.

Medic sat quietly in his lab, twirling the stick of the lollipop that Scout had in his mouth when he'd been found. He'd been sitting there doing that for hours now, aimlessly and without end, staring at the battery operated defibrillator on his desk. Oh what a fool he'd been to not use it! It hadn't occurred to him how panicked he was, and in the heat of the moment, he'd completely blown it. A soft knock at the door broke his trance-like concentration.

"Hey, Doc, you got a second?" Engie poked his head in through the door and glanced at what Medic had been doing.

"Ja, I guess I do. I've not even been doing anyzhing for hours," He let the sucker stick drop to his desk then turned to face Engie, who'd led in Demo and Pyro. They were carrying the most unorganized binder he'd ever seen. Papers were spilling out at both ends and most of the papers were simply skewered through the rings rather than hole-punched. They dropped it down loudly on Medic's desk and the gust of air sent a few papers tumbling to the ground.

"We thought you might like ta see this," Engie said, flipping to a certain page in the binder. Medic glanced down at the rough, barely legible handwriting that he immediately recognized as Scout's. The paper looked like it was carelessly stuck in there, hanging pierced by one ring that was slowly tearing through it, and it looked as if it'd been crumpled up in his pocket for a while before actually making it to the binder. All the marks had been creased out under the weight of the other papers and things stacked on top of it. His expression softened as he began to read it.

_So,_

_ Apparently, Pyro's makin' us do some sentimental sort of thing today. We have to write down what we want to be remembered for. What a way to waste a weekend! Well, it's glaring at me [or so I assume] so I guess there's no gettin' out of this. _

_ If there's one thing I'd want to be remembered for, it'd be for my rippling biceps. In fact, my rippling everything! Yeah! Jus' look at these beauties._

The paragraph above was scribbled out slightly, but Medic could make it out. He continued on, eyes growing misty.

_Okay, ignore that. What I really want to be remembered for are all the girlfriends I had! I was goin' on dates every chance I could! Seriously, girls were throwing themselves at me. They'd scream, "LOOK! IT'S HIM!" and I'd just be like "Hey now, there's plenty of me to go around". Basically, I was a pretty big deal. A freakin' chick magnet. _

_ But we can't forget all my triumphs over the BLUs, no sir! I'm pretty much credit to the team every time I glance at the control points. Had those BLUs runnin' and screamin' for their mommies whenever I showed up to defend the points. They never stood a chance._

_ If any of my teammates ever sees this, [for starters, I will kill anyone that looks at this] then remember me for those things. _

_ Not that you'll be remembering for long, of course. Respawn. _

The note, written in the language of an egoistic 23-year-old, ended abruptly. It was perhaps the most precious thing Medic could've ever been given. His three teammates watched his reaction.

"We thought ye could use a little cheering up, an' we found that while goin' through Scout's room earlier," Demo explained, leaning over Medic's shoulder. Medic pushed his glasses up his nose before silently closing the binder. He'd never been good with emotions, but his teammates always knew exactly how to help each other. Perhaps that was how they'd survived repeatedly dying and killing the BLUs on a daily basis, instead of having a mental breakdown. It was rarely needed, and they hardly ever saw their softer sides, even their own. But now, with life and death on the line, it was evident, and Medic was grateful for that.

If there was one thing his teammates could heal that he couldn't, it was a broken heart.


	7. Us Against Them

**Hey everyone! So I was wrong; I was able to write Chapter 7 straightaway, So here it is!**

**I'm estimating that this story may end somewhere around Chapter 10...we'll just have to see! Also, if you catch any grammar errors in this chapter, I apologize, but I stayed up very late into the night writing it.**

**And thanks for everyone's continued support and reviews. They really mean a lot to me!**

The loud tapping sound of someone incredibly bored, worried, or just plain impatient echoed through the room. The Administrator sat, drumming her fingers loudly on the desk in front of her, one elbow resting on the table. It'd been nearly a week since she lost communication with the mercenaries up at Coldfront, and she was _not _happy about it. This was something beyond her control, and she didn't like dealing with things out of her control. _She _was the puppet master. She pulled the strings around here. However, a more powerful force by the name of Mother Nature seemed to say otherwise.

"Ms. Pauling?" She called. A few screens flickered in front of her as Ms. Pauling appeared in the doorway at the back of the room.

"Yes?" She said, adjusting her glasses. Her clipboard was pressed tightly against her chest as she waited for The Administrator to resume speaking.

"Get Saxton Hale on the phone. We need to talk," Ms. Pauling gave a curt nod.

"Yes ma'am. Right away," The small woman slipped quietly out the door and The Administrator was left again to bury her face in her hands, leaning on the desk with a cigarette stuck between her lips. A few moments later, she heard Ms. Pauling's voice.

"Mr. Hale is on the line, ma'am,"

The Administrator, without so much as a backwards glance, picked up the cord phone on her desk.

"Saxton," she started.

"Helen! I didn't expect ta hear from you! You caught me at a bad time, actually. I was busy wrestling this-"

"I don't care to hear about that," The Administrator cut off the egoistic Australian abruptly and he paused.

"Well…did'ja call because you've rethought that dinner offer?" Saxton asked. She could almost see the grin on his face.

"No. I didn't. I'm going to be brief about this. I have 18 mercenaries stranded in a blizzard up at Coldfront. You know where that is, right? We've been trying to get a signal through to them but the snowstorm's blocking anything, and we can't directly get any planes in there," She explained. "I can't afford to lose any of them. It'd take too much time and money to find replacements for all of them, so I'm counting on you. I'm counting on you to do everything in your power to get them out. And I don't want you getting distracted because of alligators or meteors flying towards the Earth that only you can stop, I want you to only focus on this task," For a moment, Saxton Hale was silent on the other end.

"Guess I can do that. It'll be tricky. Perhaps I'd be more motivated if you accepted the offer…"

"No. You will do this, dinner or no dinner. There are no jokes this time, Saxton. Do what I say or face the consequences," There was a harshness in her voice, colder than it usually was. For a moment, the Australian was lost for words.

"All right. I will do it," He said at last. "But just consider that offer,"

* * *

"What d'ya think is wrong with him, Doc?"

"Her"

"…It"

Medic glanced at his teammates, who were hovering over his shoulders. Through the night, something must have happened, because the Pyro seemed to have snapped. They'd found the poor firebug in its room, staring at the corner and curled up into a little ball, mumbling to itself. He couldn't be too certain if it had frostbite, which is what he was concerned about treating first, but if he even attempted to remove so much as a glove then the Pyro would turn sharply, glare at him, then jerk away and resume its tuneless humming.

"I…I do not know. Physically, it seems to be okay. Can't exactly tell. Mentally, vell, it's hard to say for certain," He shrugged, staring at the shivering firebug.

"Why'd it start doing this?" Engie asked, clearly distraught. He hadn't left Pyro's side ever since they found it at around 5 in the morning, which was when Soldier, despite everything that had happened, woke them up promptly. His teammates could only guess it was because, as a soldier, he was trained to get over deaths quickly. Or at least he was supposed to look like he had.

"Zhe pressure of everyzhing zhat has happened?" Medic suggested. He was surprised that he hadn't snapped by then either. The mind was a strange thing sometimes. Engie, obviously unhappy with Medic's reply, sat close to the firebug on the bed. It refused to look at anybody, and simply kept staring at the right wall.

"Hey there, buddy. Can'ya tell us what's wrong?" He said gently, placing a hand around the Pyro's shoulder. It stirred, showing that it had felt his touch, but did nothing else. Engie glanced at the ground.

"Just let it have some time in here alone. I'm sure zhis is only a temporary condition," Medic tried to assure Engie that the firebug would be all right, but there was a hint of doubt in his voice. The Pyro was a mystery enough in itself, _no one _knew what was going on in its mind-let alone when it mentally snapped. Engie still held his eyes on the ground, not wanting to leave his teammate's side.

"C'mon lad, cheer up. Medic'll help Pyro, I'm certain of it. This is no time to be moping," Demo said, stretching out his hand towards Engie. He reluctantly took it, casting a concerned glance back at Pyro, then followed Demo out of the lab.

Another sharp jab of guilt pierced Medic when Demo had said that. _Medic'll help Pyro, I'm certain of it_. His teammates trusted him. They always had, and they always would. But he'd let them down on more than one occasion. And this time, he really didn't know what he could do for the firebug. This was not anything he'd dealt with before.

He sighed, sitting down in a chair next to the bed, pulling off his gloves. His hands underneath were terribly discolored with a case of frostbite worse than anyone else's. But it wasn't his duty to take care of himself, it was his duty to take care of his teammates.

"I'll be all right," He muttered, directing the comment towards Pyro. "It's just a little frost bite. Nozhing to vorry about,"

A small knock at the door shook Medic from his thoughts, and he stopped talking to empty air. He glanced up to see Spy slipping in, looking terribly stressed about something. The gaunt appearance of the spook made Medic shudder slightly, realizing that Spy must have been worrying about a lot; what with him seeing that the BLUs and REDs cooperated.

"Herr Spy," Medic greeted, quickly slipping his gloves back on so the spook wouldn't see his hands. No need to give him some other thing to worry about.

"I don't know how we're going to do this anymore," Spy sat down in the desk chair without greeting Medic and without casting a second glance towards Pyro. Medic raised an eyebrow and Spy continued.

"I don't know how we're going to keep this alliance with the BLUs. I just…can't," He leaned forward and buried his face in his hands. A cigarette poked out of his lips and was almost burned down completely. He hadn't stopped smoking them all day.

"Vhat happened?" Medic inquired, sitting down in a chair across from him.

"My counterpart…the BLU Spy…" He started slowly, pausing between phrases. "He…he basically called off the alliance himself. Said it's more important for everyone to watch out for themselves; survival of the fittest, basically. I don't know if he's convinced the rest of his team, but I'm not keen on finding out," Spy sat back in the chair and stared at the ceiling, a dull light in his weary eyes.

"Survival of zhe fittest…" Medic muttered quietly, clasping his hands in his lap.

"MMPH MMMMPH MMPH," Pyro shouted, whirling around suddenly. The two mercs both leapt out of their chairs in surprise, but as quickly as it had panicked the Pyro was back again in its trance-like state. Spy glanced at Medic questioningly.

"Poor zhing's snapped," He explained, sitting back down again, a wary eye on the firebug. "I don't know vhat's vrong with it, and I can't help it," He sighed quietly, gesturing for the spook to take another seat.

"Yes. Anyways, BLU Spy made it seem like it was a direct threat. Discretely, but it was still there," He explained. Medic frowned.

"Vhat's zhe point in breaking zhe alliance now?! Vhat is zhere to gain from zhis?" He asked. He was angry, confused, and _tired_. Basically all week, his insomnia had kept him up every night. It was slowly causing him to break down from the inside-out.

"I do not know, but he seemed keen on doing it," Spy looked at the ground sadly, and the two mercs sat in companionable silence. The only noise was Pyro's incomprehensible mumbling, and the howling wind outside. There was one thing going through both their minds, and that was, perhaps there really was no hope.

* * *

It had never been easy, those past few days. First they were devising and executing an attack plan, and next, their friend had died-forever. Then they had teamed up with their enemy and were staying _in _their base even. And then…they didn't know what was going on.

The BLUs were gathered together, or most of them, in the main control point room of RED base. The only one missing was Spy, who they hadn't heard from at all that day. They were confused and very, very worried.

"What if the REDs killed'm?" Scout had suggested. Engie quickly shrugged him off. He said the REDs had shown too much hospitality-for the most part, and that they wouldn't turn at the last moment.

"But you don't know that, now do ye laddie," Demo had piped up. And it was true. They couldn't possibly know what was going on in the RED's minds. They were simply there because it was nearly impossible to get back to BLU. Now they were sitting there, some thinking about the situation, others sitting there and accepting their fate.

"What d'ya think's gonna happen?" Scout said suddenly, asking no one in particular. Everyone was startled by the question.

"What exactly d'ya mean, sport?" Engie asked, leaning against the wall. Scout frowned.

"D'ya think The Admin has forgotten about us?" He replied. It was then that Engie frowned.

"I really don't know, Scout, I really don't know," He said at last, folding his hands in his lap. Scout was obviously discontented with the response.

"What if we all die? We're all gonna die, aren't we?" Silence. His teammates had glanced around at each other, but not a single one of them decided to speak up and give Scout the 'don't say that, we're going to be totally fine' speech. This didn't help the boy's confidence.

"…oh," He muttered, looking down at the ground. It was bad enough that he'd witnessed his own counterpart's death. Basically, he stood over his own grave. It was like catching a glimpse into the future, only perhaps there wouldn't be anyone left to dig a grave for him.

Sniper sat in the corner, hat over his eyes, blade in his lap. He hadn't let go of it for days. Why, no one could figure out. But it obviously meant something to him.

"I say we give up now. Sit 'ere for the rest of eternity," He mumbled quietly. Again, the BLUs looked between each other, but not one of them said a thing. They all thought the same way. They knew they were all going to die, one way or another.

It seemed they sat in silence for what seemed like hours before they noticed Spy in the mouth of the hallway, quietly observing his teammates.

"Gentlemen," He nodded to them curtly, ignoring their surprised glances.

"Where've you been, spookie?" Engie asked, motioning for him to come over with the rest of them. Spy simply remained leaning against the wall in the doorway, staring at his shoes.

"Does it matter?" He said, flicking his cigarette to the ground. He crushed it under his foot. It was his last one-and he'd prefer to not think about it. "But I have some important news to deliver to you," He paused, and his team looked curiously at him.

"The REDs are plotting against us. To get rid of us," the spook said quietly. Again, there was silence.

"W-what?" Scout piped up, breaking the quiet. "B-but…no…they can't be! Did'ya not see'm when their Scout died? Why would they want ta get rid of us now?!" He folded his knees up close to his chest, a frustrated expression on his face.

"I agree with Scout," Engie said, patting Scout's knee with his robotic hand. "They haven't shown us any hostility while we've been here. Why would they start now?" He stared at the spook, who had a distant look on his face.

"Do you not TRUST ME?!" He snapped suddenly, jumping up from his place on the wall. Scout's eyes widened and he glanced at Engie, who simply said nothing.

"You hard-headed fool, this isn't about cooperating with the REDs anymore. This is about our own survival! And if we want to survive, we have to break our alliance with the REDs. I'll admit, it'll be dangerous staying in their base, but we can't get back to BLU without killing ourselves. So either we kill them first, or they kill us first. Us against them," Spy was shouting in Engie's face now, a pained, angry expression on his face as he told his teammate off.

"Us…against them…?" Scout repeated questioningly. The spook's hard gaze flickered to him, then between the rest of his teammates.

"Us against them," Demo said from behind them.

"Us against zhem,"

"Us against them!"

"Mmph mm mmmph!"

Spy's face flickered with the ghost of a grin as he watched Engie give into the pressure of his team.

"…Us against them,"


	8. Unraveled

**I had good fun with this chapter. Lots of RED Sniper and BLU Spy. I was thinking maybe I'll try and lengthen the story a bit, maybe add more chapters, because I'm really enjoying thinking of some kind of unique back story for these characters. **

**But for now, enjoy Chapter 8!**

RED Sniper had woken with a start early that morning. He was grateful to have been jostled from his bad dream, but irritated that he'd woken up too late to go back to sleep, too early to actually do anything. Not that they'd be doing anything that day. Simply sitting around, prolonging each of their inevitable deaths.

What worried him the most is that they hadn't heard a peep from the BLUs at all since last night. Hadn't even seen them in the hallways. They had simply vanished off the face of the planet. Sniper thought that if they really had, they should consider themselves lucky. Better than spending another day in this forsaken place.

He listened quietly to the wind outside, whipping around, staring blankly into the darkness and relishing the near silence. The ice cold black pressed against his face and he shivered. He could feel his heart beating weakly against the cast that was still on his arm. He was beginning to think that either it really hadn't healed, or Medic had forgotten to take it off. He wouldn't blame his friend though. Medic had a lot on his mind.

Sniper was never one to keep track of a lot of things at once. He liked his job. It was simple, clear, and he only had to focus on one thing at a time. He'd never been thrust in a situation like this. Sure, he'd had times where he had to use his survival skills, but he'd always been alone. Never had to worry about other people dying-especially not people he _cared _about. He tried not to show it, but he really did. He really did care for his teammates. It's just that they were never faced with permanent death before. They always had respawn to fall back on. Always.

Already two people had died, and though Sniper wouldn't admit it, the notion terrified him. He was absolutely terrified of dying. If he were to die, there would be so many loose ends never tied up. Specifically, the biggest one that weighed down on his mind, the situation with his parents. They had no idea where he was. They had no idea who he was with, or what he was doing. He'd been feeding them all lies. What if he did die, and then they found out? Not that it would matter though. Sniper didn't believe in life after death. He wouldn't have to worry about guilt in the 'afterlife', which is what some called it.

Though, since Sniper didn't believe in the afterlife, that had made Scout's death all the more devastating. He'd held that emotion close in his chest, letting it grow and gnaw on his insides, slowly driving him insane. He hadn't snapped yet though, and he didn't plan on it. Rather he didn't plan on showing it. Emotions just got in the way of things. Showing them was even worse.

He had subconsciously sat up in his bed, one leg sprawled out and his foot overshooting it by about three inches. Sniper didn't mind sitting in his room for long hours like this; he was used to it, what with sitting in sniper's nests all day. But now he was legitimately bothered by it. He desperately needed to get up and get some air.

There was still the same choking silence throughout the hallway. The howling of the wind outside had blended into the background now. It was always there, always reminding them when they drifted into thought that they were still very much stuck here. But other than that, it had become unnoticeable.

Sniper realized with a shock that they'd been here for only a week. Only 7 measly days, that would've passed in what seemed like seconds any other time. But now they dragged on like years. Endless, wearing years. The longest-and perhaps last-week of his life.

He stopped down in the mouth of the hallway to the main control point room, leaning up against the cold cement wall, running his gloved fingers through his tousled hair. He could've sworn he saw the flicker of a shadow out of the corner of his eye, but he simply ignored it. He was tired from everything that had happened. It was nearly impossible to get any sleep for those past few days.

But what worried him was that he saw it again. Sniper was always very keen-his eyes didn't trick him twice. He fingered the empty space where normally would be filled by the handle of his kukri, desperately wishing he had it with him as he crept as quietly as he could into the hallway. He was almost certain he could feel a pair of eyes on him now, watching him from the shadows of the dark morning. Still though, there was silence.

Sniper had begun to relax as he passed the main control point room into the hallway across from it. He'd felt much too open and exposed in there, and yet still, he couldn't shake the haunting feeling that someone was there. Someone was hiding, and perhaps, right behind him. Instinctively he glanced back but couldn't see very well in the thick darkness. He stopped, reaching the end of the hallway, then backtracked quickly, hoping to get back to his dorm as fast as possible. This nagging that something was going to jump out at him at any moment was nearly unbearable. He carefully placed his feet in a straight line in front of himself, trying to make as little sound as possible.

Suddenly he felt a jolt of terror run through him as someone's hand flashed out and wrapped around his mouth. He desperately jabbed out his good elbow to try and fend off his attacker, but he was quick, and with his remaining hand, he caught Sniper's arm behind his back. Sniper's eyes widened in the blackness and he struggled against the tight grip some more, but nothing broke it. He slowly started feeling his energy drain away, and he shuddered, horrified. How could he possibly give up this easily? He was trained for this kind of situation! He took the moment to relax slightly, drop his attacker's guard down, then swung around and smashed the side of the marauder's head with the hard cast over his left arm.

He heard a sickening _smack _as his blow struck home, right on the person's temple. They staggered, and for a moment, the gloved hand was removed from over Sniper's mouth. Heart racing, he wasted not this precious moment.

"SOMEONE BLOODY HELP M-" Sniper screamed bloody murder, his sentence sharply being cut off as his attacker collected himself and immediately snapped his hand back over his mouth. This time, Sniper felt something hard hit the back of his head. He stood, dazed for a moment, eyes glazing over in the darkness, trying to work out what had just happened. He felt something warm, wet and sticky trickle down his neck and a strong pulsing feeling pounding in his ears. The next moment, he sagged backwards, nerve endings unable to register the pain like they should have. Sniper stared up in confusion as his attacker caught him, and the last thing he was able to register was his legs being scraped on the ground. Then there was nothing.

* * *

It was the cold that Sniper registered first. Cold air against his skin as he slowly regained consciousness. The next thing he could tell was there was something tight wrapped around his wrists and almost cutting off the circulation. He tried to move them but they were tethered to something-the chair he was sitting on. He tried to move his legs but they were tied down as well. His vision was blurry, but when he looked up he could make out a vague shadow standing in the corner.

"So you're awake?" The figure said, stepping out of the shadows. Sniper realized with a flash of anger that it was BLU Spy. The spook looked pale and gaunt. There were dark rings around his wild looking eyes. He had a different air to him; he wasn't acting cool and collected like Sniper was used to. He seemed panicked-almost insane.

"Yeah, I'm awake. No thanks ta you, sneaking up on me like that. An' in the middle of an alliance, no less!" Sniper snapped, feeling a sharp throbbing in the back of his head as he started to speak. He grimaced slightly, determined not to show Spy his pain.

"What alliance? I know you REDs are planning something, and you're going to tell me what it is," the spook leaned closer to Sniper, who looked as though he wanted to bite off his nose.

"What're you goin' on about now?!" He snapped, struggling again against the bonds. The BLU spook's eye twitched ever so slightly.

"Don't LIE to me!" He lashed out and smacked his hand across Sniper's face. Sniper fell sideways at the blow and turned back to face the spook, desperately wishing he had a free hand to rub his stinging face.

"W-what was THAT about?" He exclaimed, genuine confusion in his voice.

"I _know _RED is conspiring against BLU and is somehow planning to kill us all-so why don't you just spill your plans already?!" Spy leaned in closer to Sniper who had a firm-set frown on his face.

"Why would we 'ave plans to kill you blokes? What could we possibly gain from that?" Sniper retorted, making brief eye contact with the spook. Spy was worse than he thought he was. He had a shifty look in his eyes, as if he were nervous about something. He also seemed to develop a nervous tick that caused Sniper to shudder. What had happened to his cool, collected, formidable rival that he'd come to respect?

"You have absolutely everything to gain from that, Lawrence," Spy whispered in Sniper's ear. For a moment, Sniper's eyes widened. He quickly wiped the shocked expression from his face as Spy continued.

"Oh, you know I read your file. So yes, I do know your real name, and your past, and everything else there possibly is to know about you. You don't enjoy teamwork. Working solo is more for you. So what better way to bend dear ol' Sniper than by working with your enemy? Which is why you jumped on board with your team when they said they were going to _kill _us BLUs. I heard it. So why don't you admit it?"

For a moment, Sniper was left in a stunned silence. He _heard _it? But how? No one was conspiring against the BLUs, and if they were, he'd have been sure to hear about it. The spook's words hurt; mostly because they were true. He was very disgruntled that he had to work with the BLUs, but he let their Spy take care of that. He just stayed out of the way.

"Y'know…I know about you too," Sniper mumbled, noticing the throbbing in the back of his head once again. "Your name is Adrien. Didn't 'ave a last name on your form though. Didn't say why. We searched through it but couldn't find anything," he noticed an expression change on the Spy's face and kept going. "We're all alone 'ere. Can't you just tell me? I swear, if I live through this, I won't tell anyone. Your secret will be safe with me to the grave," He watched curiously as the spook sank down into a chair, and to the Australian's shock, pulled off his mask. He'd never actually seen Spy's full face; he'd only ever known those cunning, icy blue eyes. Under it his skin was paler and he had a head of tousled salt and pepper hair. His nose was crooked slightly, as if it had been broken once, and he evidently wore his years on his face even though he was still quite young.

"I was an orphan," He started quietly, drumming on his knees with his gloved fingers. "My mother died when I was young, and my father disappeared after that. I grew up in an orphanage with my older brother, Christophe. You may know him better as the RED Spy," Sniper couldn't help but gasp slightly. Their Spy was this spook's brother? And they were constantly forced to kill each other in battle, day after day? For once, he stopped to think about this BLU as an actual person, rather than someone he could repeatedly slaughter and not have to worry about him actually dying.

"What 'appened then?" Sniper asked curiously. Spy's expression fell.

"We grew older. Old enough to leave the orphanage. He left me as soon as he could, and in a few years, I left. I never knew where he went. Somehow, we both wound up here at Mann Co., but I barely recognized your Spy as my brother. It had been so many years, and he changed so much. He may as well have been a stranger," he explained.

"Why didn't ya do somethin' about it? He's your own _brother_, you can't just ignore that," Sniper pestered. He figured the longer he could keep the spook talking about his family, the better his chances were that he wasn't just going to kill him. Quietly though, he was working away at the bonds that kept him from escaping.

"I couldn't bring myself to do it. To talk to him. It was also made harder when we were assigned to different teams. He went off to RED, and I, BLU. It's not every day we get to sit and talk with each other," The Spy sighed.

"But you 'ad time these past few days, why didn'tcha? Sure, it's been bloody freezin', but that shouldn't hinder ya," Sniper said, biting back a cry of triumph when he felt his hand slip through the first piece of cloth that had been used to tie him back. Patience was key, and if there was one thing Sniper had plenty of, it was patience.

"Like I said before…he was no longer my brother," the spook said, standing up and pulling the mask back over his face. Sniper's spirits sank when he realized he wouldn't be able to stall Spy any longer, but he had at least worked away through most of the bonds. He would have to wait a little bit longer though; for the perfect moment to strike.

"It does no good to dwell on the past, now does it? So let us get on with what we were doing. You tell me what I want to know, and maybe I won't put a bullet through your head," the BLU turned and flipped the revolver in his hand carelessly, as if it were no more than a toy.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sniper sprung up out of the chair, catching the spook off guard. He knocked the revolver from his hands and it landed on the ground with a loud _BANG_ing sound as a bullet was accidentally fired at the wall. In the confusion Sniper bolted in one long stride to the closed door, swinging it open and sprinting out into the main control point room.

He didn't make it far before Spy had retrieved his revolver and tackling Sniper to the floor. The two rolled a few painful feet before the spook ended up on top of Sniper, the revolver pointed directly at his head.

"What was THAT about?!" He shouted in Sniper's face. "I ask for simple information, and I nearly get a bullet to the foot!" Sniper simply glared back in response. The poor Spy was incredibly far gone; he could tell by the look in his eyes.

"What'n the…" someone exclaimed behind them, dropping whatever they were holding. Sniper and Spy both snapped their hard gazes to RED Engie, who was gawking at them from the other side of the room. They all stared between each other for a moment, before Engie turned, yelling back down the hallway. Spy frowned greatly in anger and frustration. The commotion had drawn a few shocked BLUs from their dorms as well. Still, he kept the revolver right up to Sniper's head.

"They're over here, I dunno WHAT'S gotten into those two!" Engie's voice was once again heard as he emerged into the room, this time with Medic and Spy, who skidded to a halt at the sight of the two mercs collapsed on the floor and glaring at everyone angrily.

"Don't you do this, don't you make this a big thing!" BLU Spy hissed at the three REDs, who were closing in on him slowly with their hands in the air.

"Spy…don't. Put zhe gun down, bitte," Medic was the first to speak up, extending a hand to the BLU who was still on top of Sniper. The spook gripped on the trigger of the revolver dangerously tight and Medic backed off a bit.

"Why should I listen to _you_," Spy hissed, holding onto the gun as if his life depended on it. Their eyes locked for a moment and Medic thought back to his file that Spy must have read. In fact he was certain the spook read it, and with a sigh, he backed off. Engie frowned.

"C'mon, sport, really. Give us the gun," He said, not daring to near the wild-eyed spook.

"You don't need to do this," One of his own team members-Demo-had piped up. So his team really was lying when they agreed to side with him. A flash of anger shook Spy and he gripped tighter on the revolver. Had he not been wearing gloves, his knuckles would be visibly sheet-white. He looked around at the mixture of REDs and BLUs surrounding them, then down at Sniper, still staring at him with utter hatred.

"Adrien, put the gun down. Now," RED Spy spoke up, being the only one brave enough to bend down to eye-level with the half-crazed BLU. "No one else needs to die," He whispered. The BLU's gaze notably softened, but his reply did not show it.

"You never cared about me anyways,"

There was no time for anyone to react. Time appeared to have slowed down, and the only thing that pierced it was the loud crack of the revolver.


	9. So Close

**And here is chapter 9! I've been sort of slogging through slight writer's block, so that's why this chapter is so short. I haven't started writing chapter 10, but I promise I will. I have an inkling of an idea for what's going to happen.**

**So for now, enjoy chapter 9!**

No one moved. No one spoke. No one even dared to breathe. Everyone in the room appeared to be frozen, cringed backwards for what seemed like hours. They had all been expecting to be staring down at their own corpse when the revolver had gone off. It wasn't until Sniper, who was still on the floor, felt something warm and sticky on his chest. Warily, he opened one eye, expecting to see a bullet hole. When he didn't, he gasped slightly at what he did see.

Slowly, the rest of his team members opened their eyes. They were just as confused as Sniper was that they weren't dead. Spy was the most surprised. He'd almost certainly expected his brother to shoot him then and there after what he said. The spook wouldn't blame him if he had, though. Everyone was about to feel relieved when they noticed what Sniper was gawking at.

The bloodied figure of the BLU Spy was sprawled out on his chest. At the last second, the spook had whipped the revolver up and pointed it at his own head. He'd killed himself. Taken his own life in front of his brother.

"'m sorry, mate," Sniper whispered to Spy, who simply sat there staring wordlessly. It was almost as if he were a statue, unmoving and unblinking. The rest of his teammates too. While Sniper had felt a twinge of sadness and respect for his rival, he'd prefer to not have his corpse lying on him. Gingerly, he slid out from under the BLU Spy's rag doll, then stood up and backed away from Spy.

Spy sat there for a few minutes, fixated on some point in space that wasn't there. He wasn't even looking at the BLU Spy on the ground, nor any of his teammates. He was just staring. The rest of his team members gathered behind him and were staring over his shoulder worriedly.

"Herr Spy…" Medic started, bending down closer to his friend. It was then that Spy turned to face him, almost robotically, tears glistening in his eyes.

"Help him," He whispered quietly back, his voice breaking slightly. Medic glanced at the BLU on the ground. The bullet had gone right through his temple, and he was lying in a pool of glistening red blood; the wound was still bleeding. Even after Sniper's clothes had absorbed a lot of it.

"I…can't," Medic responded quietly, placing a hand on Spy's shoulder. Spy jerked away then collapsed inward on himself, edging close to his brother.

"Help. Him." Spy repeated through clenched teeth, this time with more force. Sniper frowned.

"Don'tcha see, mate? 'e's already dead. Medic can't do anything to bring'm back," He stepped forward to defend his teammate, a small spark of anger flaring up inside of him. Medic held up a hand and motioned for Sniper to stop. This was no time for harsh words.

"Sniper is right. No amount of healing can help him," Medic explained, standing up and shuffling away from Spy quietly. Engie remained a wall flower, ghosting in the hallway and watching the scene unfold. He stared sadly at the broken figure of Spy, kneeling on the ground as if his legs were made of jelly.

"_Find _some way to help him," Spy shot back. "I don't care if you have to bend the laws of nature, just _fix him_,"

"Sport," Engie started, still standing behind Sniper in the hallway. "There ain't anything we can do for'm. Really. If we could go back an' change the past, we would've stopped'm," He said softly. Spy didn't glance up, but Engie could tell he didn't believe him. He only fiddled with his bloodied gloves in his lap and kept staring at the BLU Spy with wide eyes.

Suddenly he shot up. His legs wobbled slightly as the spook angrily turned to face the BLUs, all still staring, bewildered.

"This alliance," he started harshly. "Is over." With that, he turned sharply on his heel and quickly cloaked, hurrying off down the hallway.

* * *

It was the delicate sobbing that caused Sniper to stop. It had been a few hours since their run-in with BLU Spy, and the entire team hadn't seen their spook at all. Hadn't even heard a peep from him. But now he stopped and listened quietly, then turned and faced the corner, extending a gloved hand.

He caught the spook's arm, but Spy didn't decloak. He simply pulled away and attempted to keep absolutely silent. Sniper smiled sadly.

"Spookie, I know you're there," He said, facing Spy directly. It was strange, and almost looked like he were talking to the cement wall. But Spy still didn't decloak.

"Why…" He whispered. Sniper barely heard him, leaning in closer, trying not to squish the invisible spook against the corner. He froze, debating whether or not to pretend to not know what he was talking about, then shook the notion from his mind. This was one of the few moments he'd agree to showing his emotions.

"I dunno, Spookie. I just don't know…" Sniper said, leaning up against the wall next to Spy. He tipped his hat over his eyes and stuck his good hand in his pocket.

"When he locked me in that room…he told me you were brothers. Orphans, even. And, since it was from his perspective o'course, 'e made it sound like you were such a bad guy. That you left him as soon as ya could. S'that true?" He persisted, glancing at the corner. For a moment, there was no reply, and he started to worry, thinking Spy had slipped off.

"But I did leave him," Spy mumbled quietly. His voice broke slightly and Sniper sighed with relief.

"Oh…" He said, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. He paused for a moment, then decided to change it.

"He told me that he heard us say we were plotting to kill the BLUs. We never said that, did we?"

"Non. We didn't," came Spy's short reply. Sniper leaned forward and turned to the corner, wishing he could see the spook's face.

"Then why…"

"He was schizophrenic," Spy again said curtly, this time cutting Sniper off all together. Sniper tipped his head curiously-almost in a child-like manner.

"We thought he had gotten it under control years ago. He started taking some medication. But…I'm betting he ran out of the medicine, which wouldn't help, but with the added pressure of this week it caused him to completely snap…I guess," the spook continued, shimmering into view. Sniper could evidently see that he was shivering. He'd never sound so unsure, so unsettled in the short time Sniper had come to know him, and he felt a small twinge of regret for his actions earlier.

"…Oh. I guess…I guess that explains it," Sniper said, glancing away.

"We both lied on our files. Not even The Administrator knows this. No, this is one secret no one else knows; except you," the spook whispered, looking sideways at Sniper. His eyes were evidently red and pink around the edges.

"I promised to keep the secret safe," Sniper responded, holding his right hand up in the air. For a moment, the two sat in companionable silence. "Y'know…I know what it's like to have family problems," he piped up. "My mum and dad both think I'm out in the medical field. I've told them that lie ever since coming to Mann Co. 'ere in America," sighing loudly, he glanced down at the ground. "If they really knew where I was…well, I honestly don't know what they'd say to me," he turned to face Spy, surprised to have his rapt attention. He shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Do you think it was wise…breaking the alliance with the BLUs?" The spook asked softly. He'd acted out of pure rage when he'd broken it.

"It sounds like it's been broken for a while now, mate," Sniper mumbled in response. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Spy's shivering and sighed, sliding off his small brown jacket.

"Anyway, take this. It'll do no good to let yourself freeze," He extended the small brown jacket to Spy, who stared at it goggle-eyed.

"Of course it'd be you to ruin my plans," He responded, slipping the jacket on over his suit.

* * *

Medic was in his lab, rifling through his many papers, as he usually was. It was almost some sort of a pastime; something to just keep himself busy. But this time, it was more a desperate attempt to find something that might help him fix Pyro. The poor firebug was still sitting in the same place on the same bed, mumbling what he assumed to be the same thing over and over again. His attempt was in vain though, because all he was finding were notes on experiments and his own random musings.

There was one thing that caught his eye though. It wasn't anything related to Pyro, but it certainly looked interesting. It was a few papers on the mechanics of respawn. As his search for anything that could help the firebug failed, he turned over to the papers to at least feel like he accomplished something.

It was difficult to read his own small handwriting. This paper seemed to be pretty old, too. Back to when he first joined the team by the looks of it. And there was one phrase that stuck out to him. _Each team member has a file; a sort of personal back-up that the computer repeatedly saves and updates when someone comes out of spawn. _Was it possible that Scout's file was still there? At the excitement of his discovery, he jumped up out of his chair slightly and pushed through the double doors.

"Herr Engineer!" Medic exclaimed. His voice echoed far down the hallway to Engie's open door. The Engineer poked his head out of his dorm, flashlight in one hand.

"Somethin' wrong—er?" He called back, voice quieter than it usually was. Medic wasn't going to let that ruin his excitement though.

"Take a look at zhis for a moment," He enthusiastically thrust the papers into Engie's hands, who didn't react fast enough to catch them. He bent over, grumbling to himself along the lines of 'this is no time to be this happy about something' and gathered up the papers carelessly. Medic hurriedly grabbed at them and rearranged them, then pointed to the phrase he'd underlined.

"'Each team member has a file… a sort of personal back-up that the computer repeatedly saves and updates when someone comes out of spawn.'" He read aloud, scanning carefully over each word. "Thanks, Doc. But I already knew this stuff," He handed the papers back to the wildly grinning German.

"Don't you see?" Medic exclaimed, pulling Engie out into the hallway. "Zhere's a chance ve could bring everyone back who died! Zhe 'files' are still saved," Engie nodded to himself, barely keeping up with Medic's fast-paced speaking, letting himself get dragged down the hallway by his sleeve.

"Makes sense ta me," He commented, heading into Medic's lab. "But," he turned around to face Medic, who nearly ran into him.

"For starters, it'd require hacking into The Admin's computer and pulling out the most recent files. And to do that, we'd actually need power-plus a death wish. And also, they would have no memory of anything that happened after that last file was saved," He could see Medic's expression slowly drop.

"…Oh," Medic said, setting the papers on the side of the desk. Engie frowned.

"But it's still an idea. We just need ta survive this," out of the corner of his eye, he saw Medic's enthusiastic smile stretch across his face once again. And for a moment, a small smile touched his.


	10. Melody it is

**Guess who still exists! /raises hand/ Yeah, it's me. And I apologize for not updating in a while, but it was like...suddenly my writing ethic took a dive off of a cliff. I had-have-really bad writer's block and am trudging through these chapters now. I hope I'll be able to pick up the pace though, I promised myself I would finish this story. So here's chapter 10 :)**

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Now?"

"Now."

"Are ya sure this is gonna work?"

"Herr Engineer, do you not trust your own handiwork?"

Engie sighed, glancing hesitantly at the contraption in front of him. It'd taken all night and most of that day, working with the cold parts and tools in his little 'garage' type thing with Medic, who stood around and mostly observed what he was doing. He was no help at all, and the only thing he did was stand over Engie and shine the dying flashlight where he told him to. It'd taken the two mercs countless hours anyway to come up with this idea that neither of them were sure would work. Despite Medic's unusual optimism, Engie couldn't help but doubt.

The hope was that, using the medigun and a few spare parts, Engie could build some sort of generator; at least enough to power a computer, and if they were lucky, a few lights. For now, powering respawn was some vague hope way off in the distance. Medic seemed to see that hope a lot closer up though-because he was pushing the poor Engineer to his limits. Now they were about to throw the switch on the patchwork generator, and it could do one of two things: fail horribly or succeed. The latter was the least likely option.

"Doc, what are we gonna do if this fails?" Engie couldn't help but keep pestering Medic with questions. He seemed to be getting increasingly more annoyed with it.

"It's not going to fail," came the German's curt response. Engie stopped talking and glanced back down at the medigun's handle which would be used as the switch. Well, this was it. Fight or flight. He thrust the handle up and the thing spluttered to life, whirring loudly and sounding as if it were about to explode. He took a wary step back but saw Medic move closer to the machine with a wild grin on his face. It wasn't unusual for him. Medic tended to get a bit overstimulated in these kinds of situations.

It stopped its shuddering convulsions and slowed down to a gentle humming. Engie and Medic both exchanged glances, then glanced at the light fixtures above them. Nothing. With a sigh, Engie made to switch the machine back off. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Medic's shoulders sag slightly, and it was evident he'd gotten his hopes up too high.

Suddenly there was a flicker. Engie stopped and looked around the dark room, wondering if his eyes had played a trick on him.

"Did you see…" he trailed off again as there was another flicker and an electrical buzzing sound above them. Medic drew a sharp intake of breath and Engie lifted his goggles off of his eyes and stared at the small light bulb that dangled from the ceiling, the small wires glowing a soft amber. The two team members exchanged shocked looks for a moment, then the two broke out into huge grins.

"It worked, your crazy idea worked Doc!" Engie exclaimed, grasping Medic's outstretched hand.

"I couldn't have done it vithout you," Medic responded. The two took a seat over at the small table in the corner, now illuminated by the soft glowing of the light. The table was littered with paper scrawled on with slanted, nearly illegible handwriting. Engie picked through a few of the papers on the desk.

"First step, down. But this next part won't be quite so easy,"

It was deathly quiet down by Medic's lab. Sniper wandered through the hall warily, jumping at even the slightest noises. There was no way any BLUs were going to sneak up on him this time. He'd come down here alone at Medic and Engie's request to check and see how the poor firebug was faring. There was no sign that it had snapped yet, but it seemed to be having a slow mental breakdown. There was just no way to tell what was going on with the Pyro. Engie really wanted to go himself because he seemed to be able to communicate with the poor thing, but Medic made him stay back and help him work on…whatever it was they were working on. Sniper didn't know, and didn't particularly care to know.

Down here it was colder and he noted that the lights were still off. Back in Engie's garage, he'd noticed the computer on and the light bulb flickering overhead. It hadn't registered as anything important though. All he cared about was the basic needs for survival anymore. Food and perhaps heat. But he hadn't given into mental breakdown-yet.

Sniper shivered slightly, stopping outside of the double doors to Medic's lab. Spy still had his brown coat and was off who knows where. Though he could deal with it. He pushed open the door and a slight gust of air hit him.

"Hey, Pyro, 'm just 'ere to check on ya," He muttered, peeking into the room. Suddenly he stopped dead, a chill running down his spine. For a moment, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. Then he thrust the door open and it groaned on its hinges.

"Pyro!" He exclaimed, skidding to a halt in front of the bed. The firebug lay on it, collapsed in a heap with a weapon buried in its skull. A weapon he knew far too well-it was his own kukri. Blood splattered clear across the floor and there was a sickening sound as he slid the blade from his teammate's skull. It was stained crimson and the stains were fresh. Then something caught his eye. A single, yellow sticky note, clinging to the side of the bed. With trembling hands, Sniper snatched it up. There was only a single sentence written in what looked like the firebug's own blood on it.

_Now we're even._

He stood goggle-eyed for a moment, the note crumpled up in his hand. The BLUs really had taken Spy seriously and it looked like a few of them were even attacking. Justifying it by saying they were _even_. An eye for an eye, so to speak. A burst of furiousness welled up in his chest and he threw the note down on the floor. It drifted slowly down, giving no satisfaction of throwing something and having it break or slam loudly. Then he turned on a heel and rushed out quickly, bloodied kukri in his hands.

Sniper skidded to a halt when he came face-to-face with Spy who decloaked in front of him. The two exchanged confused glances, Spy's flickering from Sniper's wild eyes to the blade he was clutching in his hands.

"Is…something wrong?" He spoke up, shrugging the brown jacket around his shoulders a bit more. Sniper shivered.

"V…very wrong…" he said, the words getting caught in his throat. He wordlessly pointed to Medic's lab. Spy raised an eyebrow.

"Pyro," Sniper said. Curiously, Spy edged around the rather insane-looking Australian, down to the double doors which were still swinging. He tore his gaze from Sniper and peered inside, a gasp escaping his lips. Then he whirled back to Sniper, trying to piece together what had happened.

"What did you _do_?!" He exclaimed, a hand defensively over his cloaking watch. At first, Sniper didn't know what he was so worried about. Then he remembered, he was still holding the stained blade in his hands.

"N-no, it wasn't me who did that, if that's what yer thinkin'! It wasn't me, I swear!" He dropped the kukri on the ground and it clattered loudly against the cement, flashing dangerously. Spy backed up a bit more.

"I'm going to get Medic," he responded, pushing a few buttons on the cloaking watch.

"No, don't! I…I have a note that'll PROVE it wasn't me," Sniper desperately held out his hand as if he could stop Spy with his mind, then fiddled around with his pants pockets. "I swear, I 'ave it somewhere," he threw random scraps of paper and little trinkets on the ground madly. "It was on a yellow sticky note," he whispered to himself.

"Right…" Spy made to cloak again and Sniper snapped his head up.

"Honest, I didn't do anything, you gotta believe me Spookie!" But it was too late. Spy had cloaked and disappeared around the corner, leaving Sniper to stand, defeated and alone.

"...Why,"

Engie's voice echoed hauntingly around Medic's lab, as if he were completely alone. He felt completely alone, despite Spy, Sniper and Medic hovering worriedly behind him. He was bent over the lifeless body of the Pyro, the blood stains dried into the table around it. He didn't dare remove his goggles, or his teammates might see the small glistening tears forming in his eyes. Sniper loomed in the back, wide-eyed, staring at the back of Engie's head as if he could stare through his skull. He wasn't sure if his teammates still suspected him of heartlessly murdering the firebug. They had no right to.

"I said…_why_," the firmness of Engie's voice was startling as he turned around to face his team members. He pointedly directed the question to Sniper, who shrank back a little. Sniper had never been one to physically show fear, but now he cringed under Engie's hard gaze. He'd never seen Engie like that. His teammate was usually so calm, so collected and easy going. He'd never portrayed anger this strongly before, and it struck a chord. "It was you, wasn't it. You're going to snap like the BLU Spy did, huh? Starting with that. Murdering your own team members" Engie's tone was hard and accusing.

"It wasn't me, I've told ya a million times, an' I'll tell ya again!" Sniper snapped back, holding his good hand out again.

"Herr Engineer, don't you zhink you're jumping to conclusions?" Medic piped up, stepping between the two mercenaries. Engie scowled at him.

"If it wasn't for Spy breakin' the alliance, we wouldn't be here in the first place. In fact, Scout's death was just the tip of the iceberg!" he shot back, letting his words come out before he had a chance to think about them. Spy stiffened up at the comment and Medic simply stood in front of Engie like a statue. He didn't seem to notice.

"I bet'cha weren't even tryin' to help Pyro. Ya didn't know how to, did you? You just thought you could let it sit here and die. I haven't seen ya tryin' very hard to help anyone in fact. Yer too caught up in the faint idea that we can get spawn up, when I've told you _we can't_. I think the man who built the dang machine will know what he's talkin' bout," Engie stopped ranting, breathing heavily and staring at his teammates who were all looking at the ground.

"You zhink I haven't been helping anyone?" Medic said quietly, trying to keep his tone level. "I've done all I possibly can. I've tirelessly been trying to cure everyone's frostbite, and yes, I have been trying to help zhe Pyro," he pulled off a single glove and held up his hand, which was grotesquely discolored with rapidly growing frostbite. "And I haven't been helping myself," he'd kept his frostbite a secret from his other team members, who would tell him to take care of himself rather than them. It was the kind of thing they'd do. "And as for Herr Spy, I zhink he's done quite a lot. He started zhis whole alliance. He has zhe right to end it," he slipped the glove back on and watched as Engie stared off into space for a solid ten seconds.

"I'm…sorry. I didn't realize," Engie started, looking to the ground.

"No. Of course you didn't," Medic snapped back, turning on a heel and leaving the room. Engie was still standing in a hunched over position, Sniper and Spy staring at him awkwardly. Slowly and quietly, they backed out of the room, leaving the Engineer to his own thoughts.

Engie noticed a moment later that his teammates left. It was for the better anyways. He didn't want them around very much right now. He sat on the stainless steel table next to the Pyro's lifeless body and rested an arm on it.

"Hey buddy…do you wanna sing harmony or melody?" he asked, voice breaking slightly. "I'll let you decide for a moment," he slid off of the table and left the lab for a few moments, returning with the neck of his guitar clutched between his hands. He returned to the awkward seat next to Pyro and took a deep breath, carefully strumming the chords to _Nearer my God to Thee_.

"Melody it is then,"


	11. Abandoned

**Alright. I've been meaning to post this for a little while now, but with the writer's block I mentioned a while back I really, REALLY didn't want to. I'm hoping to tie things up and end the story within the next two chapters hopefully, unless I get more ideas. Then, maybe I'll stick to one shots-I don't have to worry about getting writer's block in the middle of the story. That said, here's Chapter 11.**

Heavy usually wasn't one to be frightened of anything. Day by day, he'd face madmen with guns, high explosives and even flamethrowers, all charging him. So the solution to that problem? He'd just fire up Sasha and mow them down, one by one. There wasn't a single problem you couldn't solve with a gun.

Except this one. No matter how much he wanted to solve the problem of being stranded at Coldfront by simply blasting down a few small men, he couldn't. He was utterly hopeless in this situation. All he could do was sit back and listen to Medic and Engie's bickering in the garage. Whatever it was they were talking about, it sounded complicated, and he didn't understand it. Something about the little mercenary, Scout. And now, it seemed to concern the firebug as well.

The death hadn't particularly rattled Heavy. He'd learned to brush that kind of stuff off his shoulder. Nothing particularly rattled him-except being trapped here at Coldfront. Things he didn't control…that's what rattled him. He could control who died or not in battle. He couldn't control the forces of nature.

He stopped by Medic's lab for a routine checkup, something for his frostbite. He didn't feel like there was anything wrong with him. He was colder than usual, yeah, but temperatures were lower than usual. Plus it was harder with the medigun being used as some kind of generator. Nonetheless, he did it because Medic wanted him to. He slipped into the lab quietly, glancing around.

"Doktor? I am here," Heavy edged further into the room, which was mostly silent.

"In zhe back," he heard Medic say, emerging from the small room. Heavy made to sit on the stainless steel table, which was ice cold to the touch.

"Nein, Herr Heavy. I have somezhing else for you to do," he gently pushed Heavy off the table, who looked a bit confused.

"Doktor…?" He trailed off slowly.

"I'll need you to help everyone today. Check zheir frost bite, stuff of zhe like," Medic interrupted him, demonstrating on Heavy's hands what it looked like and how to monitor it.

"Why does Heavy have to heal teammates? Is Doktor's job," Heavy asked, fiddling with his gloves.

"I'll explain it later," Medic said, hurriedly showing Heavy to the door. "Oh, and tell Herr Engineer to finish zhe project. Tell him…not to give up," Heavy stopped in the doorway and turned around questioningly again. Medic gave him a crooked smile, but there was a slight sad look in his eyes.

"Do not vorry, everyzhing vill be fine. And before you go, tell everyone to not touch zhe mini fridge. I mean it," with that, he closed the doors on Heavy. He stood in the hallway for a few minutes, arms crossed, very much confused. He pondered for a moment going back and asking Medic what he meant, but put the thought aside. Usually, he was better off not knowing.

* * *

Sniper's walk was quick and panicked. He hurried through the hallways as if he were running from something. However, he was running _to _someone. Someone who had taken things a bit too far. He held the stained kukri down at his side with his good arm. He was out for revenge.

He ventured over to the BLU's side of the base. It was eerily silent. He warily glanced around with wide eyes before proceeding. He wasn't going to take any chances. No, those BLUs had crossed a line when they had killed Pyro-and pinned the blame on him. At first, he was torn and confused. Now, he was angry, and the anger burned inside of him like a raging furnace. What was the point anymore? They were all going to kill each other eventually. He may as well go out strong.

Sniper rounded the next corner to the end of the hallway where it opened to the outside world. The raging cold, dark, outside world. Standing there in front of him, silhouetted against a sheet of grey was just the person he was looking for. BLU Sniper. The two mercs locked eyes for a mere two seconds, when a crooked grin crossed the BLU's face.

"Finally caught up to me, didn't ya, ya RED coward? Killing yer own teammate? Isn't that a bit extreme, tsk tsk," he said, straightening up a bit, looking like a lanky shadow in the dim lighting. RED Sniper's eye twitched.

"I know it was you, you bloody wanker. You pinned it on me, didn't you? Expected my team to pull ourselves apart. Well, I tell ya, it ain't happenin," he spat, leaning the kukri over his shoulder.

"Aren't you clever, mate. Of course, it was me, but it was only to get even," the BLU Sniper said, an innocent tone in his voice. "Oh poor Lawrence Mundy. Found two of his teammates dead. Who was the other one? Scout, perhaps? I forget…it was someone who didn't matter. Just another disposable, mindless drone,"

For a moment, Sniper stood, gawking at his counterpart who had a snide look on his face. Then suddenly, in that instance, he snapped. He burst forward, full on tackling the BLU who was caught off guard. They hit the ground hard outside and rolled a few feet, snow whipping around and stinging their faces. Sniper's kukri flew out of his hands and landed in a puff of snow some ways off, and finally the two were flung off of each other.

His face hit the frozen ground hard. He sat in shock for a brief moment, the wind knocked out of them. The BLU was spluttering a bit and wiping blood off his cheek where the kukri had cut him, then glanced up, goggle eyed.

"Are you MAD?! We'll both die out here!" He shouted over a gust of wind. Sniper simply turned around, holding the hat on his head, glaring silently. His counterpart attempted to stagger to his feet, but Sniper lunged out again, grabbing onto his legs.

"Let go of my bloody legs!" The BLU growled, trying to jerk free of Sniper's rock hard grip. Sniper simply held tighter, slowly losing the feeling in his fingers and toes.

"Not today, mate. If I'm goin' down, I'm takin' you with me," he replied, squeezing his eyes shut against the cold and letting his hat fly off. The BLU staggered forward a few more feet before finally collapsing near the doorway.

"Look, no one is goin' down. We're gonna get inside and-just LET GO OF MY BLOODY LEG!" BLU Sniper shouted, his voice suddenly rising in panic. Sniper momentarily opened his eyes against the stinging wind, and looked up. The last thing he saw was a mound of white snow rushing over the edge of the roof. Then felt a sickening crushing feeling.

Then nothing.

* * *

"The Doc's out?" Engie asked, not looking up from the small laptop. "How come?"

"Did not say," Heavy rumbled with a shrug. "Told me to check frost bite. Heavy doesn't know anything about frostbite," Engie sighed

"Well, it won't be easy, but I'll try'n get by on my own. Now you're sure he didn't say why?"

"I tell you what I hear," Heavy mumbled before turning and leaving. Engie glanced back after him, then bent back over the computer.

"Wait, have ya seen anyone else? I could sure use the help…" he turned around again, but realized he'd been talking to thin air. Sighing, he went back to typing. "Well, guess it's just you'n me, ol' laptop," he patted the top of the computer screen, readjusting it.

The quiet of the base was unnerving, save the battering winds. It would help some people think, but Engie, having gotten used to his teammates constant bickering, found he needed it to think. He at least wished there was someone there to talk. He wished Medic had come to help him-the German seemed to never shut up. The constant yammering of his team members was often something Engie took for granted.

Now, all he had was the hum of his laptop. He'd gotten to The Administrator's files, and like Medic had said, he found the last files that were saved for them. Before this all happened. The biggest problem now would be getting respawn up and running. He clicked around a bit, poking through a few other files, when suddenly something caught his eye. A note in the system.

_Mr. Hale_

_The mercenaries at Coldfront are a lost cause. We've spent too much money, time and destroyed too much equipment trying to get them out of that place. They may not even be alive still. I've started interviews for new teams, they'll be assembled shortly. Things will be running smoothly again in no time._

_-Helen_

_P.S. Don't let anyone see this message. There are a few still set on rescuing the mercenaries-Pauling is one of them_

As Engie read the message, his stomach dropped to his feet. All this time, he'd been running on the hope of Mann Co. rescuing them. Now what did he have to look forward to? Sure, he had the files, but respawn was way out of his reach. The makeshift generator they made could barely power a single laptop-let alone a machine that brought people back to life. And even if he could get it back up, they wouldn't be able to get out of Coldfront. They'd repeatedly freeze to death, over, and over, and over again.

Engie sat back in his chair, glancing at the flickering light bulb, mind weighed down with thoughts. So that was it then. There was no getting out.


	12. Adieu, mate

**A few days ago, sudden inspiration for this chapter hit me in the head like a baseball. I started writing it right after I finished chapter 11, and I have to say, I'm quite pleased with it. Very pleased with it. It's only one scene, and it's sort of a filler chapter, but it deserved its own chapter. Hope all my readers like it!**

_Draggggg. _Pause. _Draggggg. _Pause.

Spy had been following the sound for quite a while now-and the faint trail of blood on the floor. He was wary of BLUs, jumping whenever he heard the dragging noise, but no one had even seen them for a day now. Anywhere. They simply vanished off the face of the planet. Now it was down to his not-so-expert tracking skills to find who-or what-was making that noise. He couldn't help but feel a slight anticipation. Perhaps the sickly dragging noise and trail of blood belonged to one of his teammates. He had only come across Engie and Heavy a few hours ago. The large Russian was playing doctor, and looked utterly ridiculous checking for signs of frostbite.

Still, despite the sick worrying Spy felt, he trekked onward. The trail had started clear outside, which made it all the more curious. Who would be fool enough to go outside? And why would they even attempt it? His thoughts were interrupted as his shoe nudged something on the floor.

Recognition flashed in Spy's eyes as he picked up the soaking wet, nearly destroyed, brown hat. His stomach dropped to his feet at the same time his heart leapt into his throat, a torrent of shocked and worried emotions running through him. This wasn't just some hat. It was the bushman Sniper's signature. He never recalled a time the Australian had ever abandoned it, not even while staring into the eyes of death. Spy clutched the ice-cold hat in his hands, then stood up and frantically hastened his pace, going as fast as his lanky legs would allow.

He stopped dead as he rounded a corner, staring goggle-eyed at the crumpled form of Sniper, still dragging himself across the floor. An absolutely nauseated feeling rose up inside of him, that feeling you get after seeing something so horrifying you can't even speak. You can't even react. No matter how much you want to look away, you can't, and can only sit while your stomach does backflips. Spy was frozen like that, a statue, staring at his friend.

"S-spookie…? S'that you…?" Sniper croaked, words slurring together. Spy was shaken out of his trance-like state as he heard the Australian's rough, weak voice. He moved closer, growing sicker to the stomach when he saw the way Sniper's legs were bent, soaked in blood and melting snow. He was abnormally pale, shivering uncontrollably, and when Spy reached out to touch his wrist it was ice-cold to the touch.

"I'm here, mon ami," Spy said, unsure if Sniper felt his hand. Sniper blinked slowly, no expression on his face.

"R-respawn's'not workin', is it," Sniper mumbled, voice growing weaker the longer he spoke. Spy shook his head, but wondered if his teammate had seen it-or if he could see at all.

"Non, but do not worry about that. I'll go find the Medic and you'll be alright!" Spy answered, making to stand up. Sniper emitted a hoarse, rasping sort of noise and Spy realized with horror that he was…laughing.

"Don't…don't go bug th'Doc…" he muttered, a ghost of a smile flickering briefly across his face. "I know how far I'm gone…Don't try'n lie ta me…Don't ya ever think you can lie t'me, Spook," Spy sighed, sinking back to the floor and leaning against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest. They sat in silence for a few, painfully drawn out moments, only interrupted by Sniper's slow, labored, raspy breathing.

"Never thought I'd die this way…" he said, jerking Spy out of another trance. "I'd always thought…one day I'd drive ya too far up th'wall…and ya'd sneak up an' just back stab me…" Spy's eyes widened, but he knew the statement was true. Sniper drove him absolutely mad, but now he stopped to think what he'd do without him. The constant pestering, the wild shouting and insulting of each other's nationality. He'd convinced himself he hated Sniper, and yet here they were now.

"I probably would 'ave killed you some way or another…it looks like you couldn't wait, though," he said, the edges of his mouth turning upward. Sniper grinned slightly at the comment.

"Guess…so…" he muttered, trying to shift from his awkward belly-down position, yelping with pain and collapsing back down. "Spook…" he gasped, eyes wide. Spy had immediately jumped up and bent over him.

"What is it…what is it?!" He shouted frantically. Sniper wheezed for a long time before responding.

"I don't wanna go out like this…" he gasped, still heaving slow breaths.

"Okay, then I'll go and get the Medic. End of story," Spy said, making to stand up again.

"N-no," Sniper croaked, reaching out his discolored, shaking hand. Spy turned to gaze down at him, the same horrified feeling as before welling up.

"K-kill me…now…" the Australian groaned, letting his hand drop limply to the floor as if the act of lifting it had drained all his energy. Hearing this, Spy's eyes bugged out of his head.

"N-no, I-I-I won't!" He shrieked shrilly, throwing his hands into the air and listening to his voice echoing away. Sniper stared blankly at the floor.

"It's either that, or watch as I suffer a slow…painful death. My legs are broken, I think one of my lungs has collapsed…yet my heart's still beatin'…" He explained, slowly setting his gaze on Spy's face above him. "If there were anyone I'd want to do this…it'd be you…Spookie…"

Spy frowned, caught in the ethical dilemma. He didn't want to be the one to murder his own teammate. Nor did he want to watch Sniper suffer-it was nearly unbearable to listen to the sound of his breathing, growing slower and more labored each minute. He reached down, fingering the hilt of his revolver, biting his lip.

"I…I don't know if I can…" Spy said, sliding his back down the wall and burying his face in his gloved hands. Sniper glanced up sympathetically.

"Y'know…mate…ya always claimed ya absolutely hated me. Right now, you're making me believe that," he mumbled, closing his eyes. "So why don't ya prove it wrong. Fulfill a dying man's last wish," Spy lifted his face from his hands slowly and robotically, reaching down for the revolver at his side and turning it over in his hands.

"There's still a chance the power will come back on if we wait…" he suggested, a slightly hopeful note in his voice. Sniper groaned quietly at the comment, then spluttered and was sent into a fit of coughing up blood. Spy screwed his eyes shut at the sight of it, now pondering the idea of ending his friend's life.

"We can hope. Wait if you must, I'll just sit 'ere, dyin' in silence," Sniper muttered as soon as he'd stopped coughing. Spy nodded, still twirling the gun in his hands, sitting quietly. He was extremely discontented with the silence. He could hear absolutely everything. But mostly, he could hear the ever failing sound of Sniper's breathing, and watch his chest press against the ground as he inhaled and shudder as he exhaled. He could hear the hammering of his own heart, the howling wind outside, and every little thought that popped into his head perfectly. For a moment, he glanced down at Sniper, sudden panic jolting through him when he didn't see the rise and fall of the Aussie's chest.

"Alright. The dyin' in silence thing…startin' to get on my nerves…" Sniper said after about a minute. Spy released a pent-up burst of air in relief, leaning his head against the wall and staring at the dark ceiling. "So…s'there anything ya want to…talk about? Just for the sake of…talkin'?"

As the question was posed, Spy had to think hard about the answer. He never was one for small talk, but if this was going to be his last time…he supposed he could try.

"When I was growing up in the orphanage…my brother, he was a lot like you," he murmured quietly, eyes fixated on the gun in his hands. Sniper's expression brightened slightly.

"'e must've driven ya up the wall then…" he said, a lighter tone in his voice. Spy nodded.

"Yeah…he did…on more than one occasion…but we usually got along. When we were young, we'd tease the girls at the orphanage, usually by throwing mud at them and pulling weird faces. You know…the things troublesome little boys tend to do," he said, smiling at the thought. "One time…we hid up in a tree all day because the girls were chasing us. We came back after dark and climbed into the building through the window because we thought we were going to get in trouble," Spy continued fondly. "Of course, we got caught. It was not pretty," he glanced down to see Sniper smiling as well.

"You? Throw mud at people…? 'ard to believe…I thought you were such a lady charmer…a silver-tongued devil, wrapped in an enigma and shrouded in mystery or whatever…" he chimed in. Spy pretended to be offended.

"Oh? What about you…I'm sure you've pulled your fair share of pranks-far more repulsive than simple mud…you're Australian," Sniper nodded.

"S'right mate…I am-and I 'ave pulled my fair share of pranks. My dad'd always take me an' my brother out huntin' on the weekends…till he left to go fight in the war. We were terrible at it-we'd always make so much noise, whatever we were tryin' to shoot could hear us a mile away. An' whatever we brought back would make my sister scream in horror. One time we left a fur we'd taken off of an in her bed. You shoulda seen the look on her face…" he drew a shaky breath at the memory. "It's nice…to just talk about…my life…" as he continued, Spy noticed his speech slurring together and his voice dropping considerably.

"S-Sniper? You all right?" He asked, bending over his teammate. Sniper opened his mouth to speak, but was overcome with more fierce coughing, then a yelp with pain. His eyes widened as he stilled, resting on the ground again.

"Spookie…" he said, staring at Spy, goggle-eyed. Spy was already crouching down over his friend.

"I am still here," he said, looking into Sniper's shocked eyes.

"S-spook…" the Aussie mumbled, still watching Spy's face. It seemed as though he were staring right through Spy, as if he were a ghost.

"I…I'm not leaving…I'm still here," Spy murmured, placing his hand over Sniper's, which was still ice-cold.

"Sppoo…k-kill mme-e…" there was genuine fear in his whispery voice this time, and worry in his eyes that were glazing over. Spy could see it, Sniper was falling away. He looked down, the revolver still in his hands. "Dying…m-man's wwishhh…"

Spy gripped the hilt of the revolver tighter. This truly was Sniper's desire. He couldn't bear to watch his friend suffering, just because he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger on the gun. Slowly, almost robotically, he switched the safety of the gun off.

"It…it was nice to talk with you," he said, voice breaking, blinking the tears out of his eyes. Sniper looked up, smiling a wide, reassuring smile.

"Nice…talkin' with…ya'too…"

Spy's heart was hammering as he held the revolver pointed at Sniper's head.

"Adieu…mon ami,"

"Adieu, mate,"


	13. Lights on, Respawn

**Here is the second to last chapter! I have to say, I'm going to miss writing this when it's done. I'd like to thank all my reviewers for being kind, reasonable, and helping me improve my writing! And a special shout out to Chaos, one of the most amazing writers I've ever met! If you like fanfics, check out her stories, Eight Mercenaries and a Toddler and I'll be Home for the Holidays.**

**Thanks again! And now, chapter 13!**

Silence. No whooshing of wind, pounding of snow, or yammering of his teammates in the background. Nothing between the quiet save a buzzing, flickering light bulb that roused the worn-out Engineer, slouched over his laptop. He jolted up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes and glancing owlishly at the laptop's bright screen. Only one thought got through his mind, clouded with sleep, and that was that he must have dozed off at some point. He glanced over at the clock on the wall, which read 11:45 pm. Time, though, didn't seem to pass at all anymore. It hadn't for the past few days.

Between not being able to register just how late it was and his aching back, Engie stood up and stretched, deciding to take a break from his tireless work. The medigun generator still thrummed away in the corner, and he patted it subconsciously before exiting the room.

In that instant, as he stepped from the faint glow of the room and into the hallway, all of his hopes had come rushing back to him at staggering speeds. His eyes snapped open wide, all groggy sleepiness leaving him as he stared up at the hallway light. Flickering, glowing, buzzing, and _on_. Disbelieving, he backed into the room with the generator, glancing at it as if it were the entity controlling the light then shut it off. Its rumbling slowly faded away until the contraption succumbed to its death, spluttering in protest as it did so. For a moment, Engie wouldn't have been surprised if it were actually alive. But that wasn't the most important matter at hand. He poked his head outside, jaw dropping in shock.

The light was still flickering with life, as were the other lights down the hall. He staggered out of the room and stared at them again, wide-eyed, wondering if he was dreaming. He pinched himself, kicked his own shins, even bit his finger. Nope. He was wide awake, and most certainly wasn't hallucinating. The lights were on, and at the time, they were the most beautiful things he'd seen in the world.

Down the hallway, he saw the hunched, slender silhouette of Spy leaning against the wall. Grinning widely, Engie rushed down to him and deliver the good news. The spook, though he saw Engie and the lights, remained as still as a statue, eyes cast on the ground.

"Hey-ey, Spookie!" Engie shouted enthusiastically, waving at his teammate. "The power's back on, can ya believe it? We're not doomed anymore! Boy howdy, I was gettin' mighty depressed for a while there, but now it's alright! I…" he trailed off when he got a better look at Spy's face, and his empty, hauntingly, uncaring expression. His eyes were puffy and red, and Engie backed away slightly. "S-Spook, what's wrong?" He asked.

"I don't know, you tell me," Spy replied bitterly. It startled Engie when he made eye contact. Spy never did that, not unless something was seriously wrong. Engie wanted to shrink under his hard gaze, and hide from his biting tone.

"I've only been stuck in this place for the past week, witnessed the deaths of two of my teammates, my brother, and now…" he cut off, attempting to stifle a choked, sobbing sound and failing horribly. Engie's eyebrows knitted together with worry, and he realized he was holding his breath. Seeing the Spook like this, it actually scared him. Such a calm, collected man, fighting back tears in front of his own eyes-and there was nothing he could do. But wait, there was something he could do! He hadn't told anyone but Medic about the project he was working on, but perhaps it'd offer comfort to the distraught Spy.

"I killed Sniper," the sound of Spy's quiet, cracking voice crashed down on Engie like a boulder. The reality of the situation became real, realer than it had ever been before. Even now with the power on. He felt the Spook's utter hopelessness, and it cut him deep.

"No," he said, leaning against the wall next to Spy. "Ya didn't. Don't you see the lights are back on?! The power's back! And I-"

"What does that matter?!" Spy cut him off suddenly, kicking violently off the wall and whirling to face the Engineer who shrank under his hard, unforgiving gaze. "I killed him. Before the power came back on. He _begged _me to end his life. You didn't see what I saw, how could you possibly say there's any sort of hope?!" He got closer and closer until he practically had Engie pinned against the wall, cringing. "_I_ was the one to arrange the alliance. _I _was the one to break it. What did you do this entire time? Sat back in your little garage, watching. You don't care. You never did care," with that, Spy turned away from Engie, staring at the opposite wall.

"I was workin' on a way to bring them back. All of them," he murmured quietly, still flattened against the wall. He held his breath when Spy visibly froze, not turning around. Obviously, the statement had hit him, and hit hard. "I was on my way to tell the Doc. We can bring them back. Sniper, your brother, Pyro, Scout. All of them," he continued. Spy wasn't speaking, but the thoughts running through his head were like a physical force.

"You…can…" he mumbled, still not turning around. Engie nodded, though Spy didn't see it.

"Yessir. Would ya like to help?"

The tension in the air disintegrated as the question was posed, and Spy's shoulders relaxed. He turned around, flicking another tear from his eye, nodding wordlessly. Engie's grin returned to his face.

"Well, great! Then c'mon, let's go get the Doc!" He hurriedly left the hallway, grateful he had Spy to back him up. The Frenchman couldn't help out with this, but it was nice to have someone to talk to at least. Anyone. Especially since Medic had been locked in his lab for over a day now. That was actually starting to worry the Engineer, and for a moment, he hesitated. Then he cleared any thoughts from his head, pushing the doors to the lab open. Everything would be fine.

"Hey, Doc!" He exclaimed, peering around the lab. The only sound he heard was the echoing of his voice. Papers flew from the desk at the sudden burst of air, and two startled doves fluttered away. Engie bent over the stainless steel table, staring at the doves. There were two, only two. Spy followed after him, glancing around curiously, an involuntary shudder running down his spine.

"I thought you said the Docteur would be here," he said, standing over Engie's shoulder, still glancing around nervously. Medic's lab gave him the creeps, even when it was bustling with people. Now, it was absolutely silent, lit eerily by a few fluorescent lights.

"He…he didn't leave here at all…" Engie murmured, standing up. "Oh…oh n-" he cut off, racing into the back room in an utter panic. Shocked at his outburst, Spy followed after him-as did the doves.

"What?! What is it, laborer?" He exclaimed, standing in the doorway of the small room. He froze suddenly, noticing the lump under the covers in the bed. Engie had thrown the blankets off in a hurry staring wide-eyed at what he saw.

The Medic was laying there, eyes closed as if he were asleep. But Engie and Spy both knew very well Medic was an insomniac-he rarely slept. There was a slight frost forming around his frighteningly still form, and cradled in his stiff arms, an equally still form. A dove. Not just any dove, though, Engie knew the permanently bloodstained feathers well. He let the blanket drop from his fist, arm dropping limply to his side as he stared in horror and sorrow.

"Oh…oh," Spy mumbled, staring at the Medic, eyes wide. He glanced up at Engie, and was shaken with worry when he saw the hopelessness on his teammate's face.

"I…he was supposed to help me…I can't…I can't do this alone…" Engie mumbled, sinking down onto the end of the bed and stroking one of the doves who glanced up at him curiously.

"But…but you were going to bring them back! You were going to bring everyone back…" Spy chipped in, attempting to lift Engie out of his growing pit of despair. He knew he couldn't though, they'd fallen down so far and now it seemed like they couldn't climb back out. He watched, holding his breath as Engie drew the blankets back over Medic's lifeless form, covering his face.

"I was going to bring everyone back," Engie mumbled, standing up. "But the Doc was gonna get a hold of The Administrator. Or someone. Until I found out-" Engie cut off, standing up.

"Until you found out _what_," Spy said firmly, blocking the doorway.

"C'mon, Spookie, just let me out," Engie grumbled, trying to push past Spy.

"Non. I can stand here all day until you tell me _what _you found out," he said seriously, staring Engie directly in the eye. The contact made Engie look away with a sigh.

"I was in The Admin's system…and I saw a message. It said…it said she'd given up on us," he explained, looking back up at Spy. "No one's comin' to get us. Medic was the only one who'd ever contacted The Admin but now…" his shoulders sagged as he trailed off. Spy frowned.

"Oh…" he murmured, moving out of the doorway so the distraught Engineer could pass through. Engie nodded to him gratefully, trudging out of the small room in the back. He glanced backwards at the doves, stroking one before pushing open the lab doors.

Suddenly, a loud crackling sound burst through the eerie quiet. Spy and Engie both turned and jumped to see where the sound was coming from-a flickering, snowy screen by Medic's desk.

"…zzt-any-zzt…n hea-kssshhh-me?" A staticy voice crackled in over the fading speaker, barely audible, and yet still there. Spy and Engie stood and stared at each other for a solid five seconds before racing towards the flickering monitor desperately.

"Hello, hello?! Is anyone there, can anyone hear me?" Engie frantically yelled into the speaker. The voice on the other end tried to reply, as the picture slowly faded into view.

"-ngineer…ksshhh-s that-zzt-ou?" It responded. Spy listened closely, trying to pick out the voice.

"I think…I think that's Madame Pauling!" He exclaimed, squinting closer at the image, which was clearing up. Engie clicked on the radio-like speaker quickly.

"Miss Pauling? S'that you?" He asked, fidgeting on both his feet. There was a moment's pause before the picture came in almost clearly. Miss Pauling turned around, adjusting her glasses and squinting into the computer screen.

"There we go. Can you hear me now?" She asked, glancing between the two mercs.

"Yeah, yeah we can hear you!" Engie exclaimed before Spy grabbed the speaker.

"Madame Pauling, not to rush into anything, but are you aware of the current situation at hand?" He said into it, thrusting it back into Engie's hands.

"No, I'm not. We haven't been able to contact you for days! The Administrator said you were all dead, but I knew I'd get through eventually. I have limited time though, I'm not supposed to be here," Miss Pauling said, glancing around with shifty eyes. "She could be watching,"

"We appreciate it, ma'am," Engie replied. "As for the current situation…well…" he trailed off as Spy grabbed the speaker again.

"Me, the laborer and the Heavy are the only ones still…still alive," he said quietly into the speaker, glancing down at his shoes. "I 'aven't seen the Heavy at all, either. I fear for the worst," he concluded. Miss Pauling looked at the two mercs sadly.

"I'm sorry…I'm doing all I can to help. It would-" she said, being cut off by Engie.

"Actually, ma'am, there is somethin' you can do," he said, a faint smile crossing his face. "The power's back on, and since you have control of The Admin's computer right now, you can access spawn, yes?" Miss Pauling nodded her head. "Then all you have to do is put their most recent files in, I'll switch on the machine, and they'll respawn!" He finished, looking triumphant. Understanding dawned on Miss Pauling's face briefly.

"But…if I do that, they won't remember any of this. They'll be reset, in a sense, and only remember everything up to the point they died last Friday," she pointed out. The triumphant look faded from Engie's face.

"Ma'am, not to sound rude, but I don't think you understand. As long as they're back, I'm okay with that. It's even better they won't remember this nightmare," he said. Miss Pauling nodded.

"No, I do understand. I'll get on that right away," she said, turning from the screen. "Someone's coming, I have to leave. Sir, Godspeed," with that, her image faded from the screen until it was snowy with static once again. Spy and Engie glanced at each other for a long time.

"You did it, Monsieur Engineer," Spy murmured, leaning back on the stainless steel table.

"Yeah…yeah, I did," Engie responded, sitting next to him. Spy shifted, acting as if he had something more to say.

"If…if you don't mind…" he started, pulling his revolver out and twirling it in his hands. "I'd…I'd rather not remember this either…" Engie gawked at him, wide-eyed for a moment before collecting himself.

"Oh…well since the power's back...go ahead, Spookie," he said, moving away from Spy who stared at him with an expression he couldn't name.

"Merci, laborer," he said, clicking the safety off the revolver. "I only regret I won't remember saving everyone with you," he added with a slight smirk, pointing the gun at his head. "Until I spawn,"

"Until you spawn," Engie responded with a wave. He looked away when the crack of the revolver sent Spy's body collapsing on the stainless steel table, silence overtaking the room moments after. Well. He was alone. He'd done it, but he was alone for the time being. At the thought, he edged out of the lab and headed to respawn to get it up.

While he was glad, he couldn't help feeling a twinge of sadness that he'd be the only one to remember this. All this horror. All the deaths. And, the fact that it'd brought his team together.

Yeah, he was going to miss them.


	14. Life Goes On

**Okay. I couldn't wait any longer to post this. This is it, the big moment! The last chapter of my story! Thanks again to all of my reviewers, you've been a lovely crowd and I just want to hug all of you! Special thanks to Chaos, Pandorica, and Polarfrey for cheering me on [and proofreading my stories, fixing all my stupid typos, all that fun stuff!]**

**So, without further adieu, Chapter 14: Life Goes On**

"C'mon, Snipes, lay off! You know I had the briefcase!"

"I also know it was you who got gunned down by that BLU Medic while you were wavin' yer tail back at them,"

"It wasn't my fault! He was right behind me! Have ya ever been shot by one of those dang needle-gun-thingamajiggers? Let me tell ya, they HURT,"

"Oh, ya poor baby,"

Engie sat in the corner, smiling as Scout stormed out of the room crossly. It had been a few days after the incident at Coldfront, but now with his team back, it seemed like no more than a bad dream. Everyone was back, bickering loudly, and just having fun. Pyro sat in the chair next to him, kicking its legs childishly and watching the argument disapprovingly. Engie playfully nudged it in the ribs.

"Come off it, firebug. The day those two stop arguin' is the day the Earth stops rotatin'," he said with a smile.

"Trrt hrrdda mmph…" Pyro mumbled with a shrug, leaning on its arms on the table.

"Yeah, that means it'll never happen," Engie responded. "That was the point," he concluded, still tuning his guitar. It was hard to hear over the shouting of his teammates, but that didn't matter much. "So whaddaya say? Why don't we take this stage?" Engie strummed his slightly out of tune guitar strings and glanced at Pyro.

"Mmph! Mmhmm, mmhmm!" It responded, enthusiastically nodding its head. Engie grinned wider, slowly plucking the strings.

"One, two, one two three four!" With that, he madly strummed songs by the Beatles, which Pyro enthusiastically jumped in and sung. The whole kitchen fell silent and listened to Engie and Pyro's singing, the tension in the air lifting. Though they had lost that day, no one could stay frustrated for long.

"Ob-la-di Ob-la-da, life goes on brah…"

"Om-mm-ee om-aa-aa Mmph mms mmn mrrh,"

"HIPPIES. IN MY KITCHEN,"

The two were interrupted as Soldier marched in, placing his hands on Pyro and Engie's heads and pulling them apart.

"DO YOU KNOW THAT NO REAL AMERICAN WOULD LISTEN TO THAT GARBAGE, MUCH LESS SING IT?"

"Aw, c'mon Sol, we were just havin' some fun," Engie complained, pulling away from Soldier's massive hand clamped down on his head. Soldier tipped his head at the right angle so they could see the insane look in his eyes under his helmet.

"FUN? WE SHOULDN'T BE HAVING FUN, WE SHOULD BE TRAINING! TODAYS LOSS WAS UNACCEPTABLE, I WILL NOT HAVE IT HAPPEN AGAIN. YOU ARE AMERICANS, I EXPECT BETTER OF YOU! A TRUE AMERICAN WOULD NEVER-"

"'ey, shut up, Sol!" Sniper interjected, leaning his chair back on two legs. "No one wants to hear another one of yer patriotic rants,"

Soldier stood, still as a statue for a solid 10 seconds before whirling around to face the bushman.

"EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR THEM! WITHOUT PATRIOTISM, WHERE WOULD THIS COUNTRY BE NOW?"

"They probably wouldn't be a bunch of self-absorbed idiots," Spy sneered quietly from the corner, observing the end of his cigarette intently. Soldier frowned and glanced between his team members disapprovingly.

"Men, I am ASHAMED," he said, jabbing Spy and Sniper in the chest before storming out of the room. Engie and Pyro glanced at each other briefly, before picking up the tune as if nothing happened at all.

"Yeah, ob-la-di, ob-la-da life goes on brah,"

"Rrr Rrr hrrm trr mmph gmms rrn,"

"And if you want some fun take ob-la-di-bla-da…"

* * *

"Ow, OW OW Doc, whaddaya think you're doin?!" Scout jerked his hand away, cradling the cut on it like it was some child.

"Cleaning out zhe cut," Medic responded, yanking the boy's hand from his chest. "Zhat's vhy you came to see me, ja?" Scout nodded slowly.

"Yeah…but, but I didn't expect it to hurt like that or nothin'! Plus, y'know, no one was listenin' to me back at the kitchen about how I totally had the briefcase secured," he cringed again when Medic resumed wiping out the large cut.

"Ach, I vatched you get killed by my counterpart. You can't fool me," he said, returning the gauze to the hand of the unhappy Scout.

"Dang, everyone knows then, huh? I'm a frickin' failure," he muttered, slumping over slightly. Medic sighed.

"No, you aren't. Sometimes ve have to deal with losses. It's not all victories. You did fine, Scout," he reassured the boy, reaching into his desk and pulling out a shiny, red lollipop. Instantly Scout perked up, eyes widening. He snatched the sucker from Medic's hands, eagerly unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth.

"Thanks, Doc. Y'know, I did do pretty flippin' fantastic out there. Why I-" He cut off when he heard Soldier's yelling outside and glanced out the small windows of the doors. "Well, if ya don't mind, I'm gonna head out," he finished, sliding off the lab table.

"Tschüss, Herr Scout," Medic said, not looking up from his desk.

"Seeya,"

* * *

A few hours later, all the mercs were exhausted. Soldier from his yelling, Demo from drinking too much, Scout from his arguing. The last ones to get to bed were Engie and Sniper, who still sat in the kitchen-Sniper with his hat over his face and Engie putting his guitar away. Both were silent, but it was a nice kind of silence. One Engie could appreciate.

"Y'goin' to bed, hardhat?" Sniper grumbled, lifting the brim of his hat up slightly to see Engie standing in the doorway, guitar case over his shoulder.

"Mmm? Oh, yeah, I'm bushed," he said, turning to face the sacked-out bushman.

"Before ya do…can I ask ya somethin' that's been buggin' me all day?" Sniper asked, sitting up on the bench. "Makes my skin crawl just thinkin' about it,"

"Shoot," Engie said, leaning casually against the doorway, crossing his arms.

"D'ya ever feel like…yer forgettin' somethin'?" Sniper asked, leaning forward. "Not just little things…somethin' big, that ya feel naggin' at ya in the back of yer mind," Engie frowned.

"Not sure what you're gettin' at, Slim," he said, a puzzled look on his face.

"Like…I dunno Truckie…it's like a whole entire week was just…sucked from my life," Sniper said, trying to figure out how to make a 'sucking' gesture with his hands and failing. "It's like…like wakin' up from a bad dream, an' feelin' like it's been a million years when it's only been half an hour," Engie paused, knowing what he was getting at. He continued to play coy, though.

"Perhaps you did wake up from a bad dream ya don't remember," he commented with a shrug. "Who knows how the mind works?" Sniper was obviously discontented with the answer, but left it at that.

"Whatever. I'm gonna clock in fer the night. G'night, hardhat," Sniper said, tipping his hat before slipping past Engie out into the dark hallway.

"G'night, Stretch," Engie said, leaning thoughtfully against the doorway for a while more. The base was now completely silent, save the snoring sound coming from Demoman's room and the rumbling of the refrigerator. It soon became evident to Engie that there was no way he'd be able to sleep, so he took his guitar out again and strummed it quietly to himself, absorbed in its music.

"Ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on…brah…"

Perhaps the song meant more than he thought. Life did go on, in the midst of tragedy. No matter what winds battered him, here he was now, laughing, conversing with his teammates. And that's exactly what he'd hoped for.

"Ob-la-di ob-la-da, yeah, life goes on…"

Now, the trials had passed, and he came out on top. The incident at Coldfront seemed surreal now, just a distant, cold memory. Barely even there.

"La la how the life goes on…"

That's all it was now. A haunting memory. A bad dream. That's all it ever would be.

"And if you want some fun take ob-la-di-bla-da…"

**Note: I've been getting quite a few PM's about what happened to Heavy and Demo. Truthfully, it was my own dumb mistake, and I'm sorry, but I realized I'd left them out as soon as I published this chapter. All I can say is that they ended up dying as well. Again, I apologize for that. **

**Other than that, I'm glad people like this chapter! I look forward to more writing in the future!**


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